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JOSEPH KXANISHU AND FAMILY. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE 



— A- 



DESCRIPTION OF 



THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND HOME LIFE, 



INCLUDING 



ENGAGEMENTS, MARRIAGES, MODES OF TRAVEL- 
ING FORMS OF PUNISHMENTS, SUPER- 
STITIONS, -ETC. 



. BY 



JOSEPH K2sT^.3SriSH:TJ 7 

A. NATIVE OF 1 PERSIA. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



ROCK ISLAND, ILL. 

LUTHERAN AUGUSTANA BOOK CONCERN, PRINTERS. 

1899. 

V. - 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

Ubrary of eongfree% 

Of flee of the 



iN 5 - 1900 

Begisier of Cepyrl 



COPYRIGHT, 

1S99, 

BY JOSEPH KNANISHU. 



SECOND COPY, 




r* G\ S 






^j_— %*-— %*-— %*— -*#— *#— -*# — 

« PREFACE. 5> _ 



While out on lecture tours in this country, I have 
been asked many questions about the manners, customs, 
and peculiarities of my own people, the Nestorian 
Christians of Persia, called by their scholars Assyrian 
Christians, and abbreviated by the people into Syrians. 
These questions I have found it very difficult to answer so 
as to give anything like a clear picture either of the peo- 
ple or the country in the brief time that I had to answer 
them under such circumstances, and, hence this book 
which I now present to the public, with the earnest hope 
that it may find a welcome. 

Should it sometimes entertain you and your children; 
should it succeed in arousing a deeper interest in Christian 
mission work among the Mohammedan nations; and 
should it sometimes prompt an earnest prayer on our 
behalf to the ever present God and Father whom we all 
try, though it. may be in much human weakness and 
under vastly different circumstances, to love and to serve 
— then its object is accomplished. 

JOSEPH KNANISHU. 
Rock Island, 111. 



Marriages Among the Assyrian Christians - 9 
Introductory --__.. 9 

Betrothals - - - - - - 13 

Preparations for the Wedding - - - 26 

The First Day of the Wedding - - - 29 
The Second Day of the Wedding - - 32 

The Third Day of the Wedding ... 34 
The Fourth Day of the Wedding - - 49 

Life After Marriage 58 

Marriages among the Mohammedans - - 64 

Marriages among the Higher Classes - - 69 

Marriages among the Common People 75 

Social Life in General 81 

Magical Arts, Witchcraft, and Sorcery - 81 

Cities, Walls, and Gates - - - - 84 

Houses 92 

How They Eat - - - - - - 102 

House Tops - - - - - - 105 

Milking and Making Butter - * - - 105 

Hand Mills 107 

Cultivating the Ground 109 

Persian Music and Musical Instruments - 113 

Condition of the Lower Classes ■- - - 121 

Modes of Traveling - - - - - 129 
The Work of the Lower Classes - - - 136 

Mohammsdan Women - - • - - - 136 

Mohammedan Girls 140 

Mohammedan Boys - - - - - 146 



The Higher Classes of Mohammedans - - 149 

Products, and Methods of Disposing of Them 153 
'he Turkish Wolf and the American Fox - - 15T 
Nomadic Persians - - - - -161 

^-* Persian Snake Charmers - - - - - 165 

Dervishes - - - - - - -169 

Modes of Punishment - - - - - 171 

Inconsistent Mohammedans - 180 

Some Mohammedan Superstitions - - - 185 

...^ > Superstitions of Nestorian Christians - - 187 
Prayer among Mohammedans - - - - 189 
Mohammedan Funerals - - - - 193 

The King and His Court - - - - - 197 
The Present Shah - - - - - 206 

The Court of Persia - - - - -209 

Interesting Features and Legends - - 214 

Mount Ararat - - - - - - 215 

The Population of Persia - - - - 219 

The Ancient Religion of Persia ... 220 

The Leading Doctrines of Zoroaster - - 221 

Stories from Persian History - - - - 227 
^Chedorlaomer - - - - - 227 

^ The Lost Tribes - - - - - - 227 

Early History of Media - 228 

Cyrus the Great - - - - - - 228 

The Fall of Media and Lydia - - - 230 

The Fall of Babylon 232 

The Proclamation of Cyrus - - - - 233 

The Death of Cyrus 234 

Cambyses ---_.,-. 235 
Darius Hystaspes - - - - - - 238 

The Ionian Revolt --.,.. 239 



Xerxes - - 240 

The Crossing of the Hellespont - - 241 

At Thermopylae - - - - - 243 

Return of Xerses 244 

Darius and Alexander ---.--'■ 244 

Alexander at Jerusalem - 247 

The Death of Darius' Wife - - - - 249 
Death of Darius ----- 250 

Alexander at Babylon 251 

Chosroes II - - - - - - - 251 

Tales from Persian Literature - - - - 253 

The Judgment of a King - - - 253 

A Bandit 254 

A Boy on Shipboard - - - - 257 

Subjects who Feared the King - r - - 258 
The Improvident Dervish - - - - 258 

The Wicked Tax-Collector 259 

An Afflicted King 260 

The Ungrateful Wrestler 261 

The Judgment of a Sage - - - - 263 

Ameen and the Ghool ----- 263 

Abdulla 270 

Ahmed the Cobbler 281 



MARRIAGES AMONG THE ASSYRIAN CHRIS- 
TIANS. 

INTRODUCTOKY. 

Whatever causes operate to facilitate travel and 
traffic and make communication between long dis- 
tances quick, easy, and inexpensive, tend also to 
bring men and women of vastly different tastes, 
temperments, circumstances, manners, and customs 
together not onlv in their business relations but also 
in the stronger and tenderer ties of friendship and 
marriage and through this contact their eccentri- 
cities, peculiarities, and provincialisms are* worn 
down— each is thereby made like all the rest of the 
traveling world in manners and customs. All be- 
come cosmopolitan. 

By just such means marriage alliances are form- 
ed in this country that would be unthought of, un- 
dreamed of in countries where such circumstances 
do not exist. 

Quite the reverse is true of a country in which 
travel is slow and tedious, rendering all means of 
communication equally so, and making business 
transactions of any consequence exceedingly rare. 

The people of such a country naturally settle 
down in villages and live there from generation to 
generation, each generation doing things just as 
their fathers and their grandfathers did. Nothing 
new comes into the village and nothing goes out of 
it. Marriage alliances are formed within the vil- 



10 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

lage or town, as a rule, the people seldom going even 
to a neighboring village to seek wives. 

The language, manners, and customs, the super- 
stitions and traditions of such a people naturally 
become very interesting and very different from the 
rest of the world as we see it in this country. 

This is especially true of the Asiatic countries in 
general, and of Persia in particular, being, as it is, 
an inland and mountainous country, with at present 
only about twenty miles of railroad and no navig- 
able rivers, and inhabited by a people who have 
lived there continuously from times pre-historic. 

The population of Persia is made up of many dif- 
ferent tribes, nationalities and religions, each of 
which retains its own language, manners, customs, 
and peculiarities, and refuses to enter into»any mar- 
riage compacts with the others. At present there 
are living in Persia Jews, Christians, Mohammedans, 
and many other tribes of different faiths, but none 
of them are allowed to inter-marry without exacting 
concessions from the others that they are unwilling 
to make. As for instance, the Mohammedans, be- 
ing the ruling class, a Christian young man is not 
allowed to marry a Mohammedan girl and, at the 
same time, remain a Christian. For, although she 
and her parents may be at heart converts to the 
Christian religion, they are forbidden by law to 
change their faith; and, on the other hand, should 
they be sincere in their religious convictions, they 
will know that according to the law laid down in 
their bible, the Koran, no faithful Mussulman is 
allowed to marry an infidel or a Christian, unless he 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 1% 

should first become a follower of Mohammed and be 
circumcised. 

Christian parents would never even think of giv- 
ing their consent to the marriage of their daughters 
to the hated, persecuting Mohammedans, and fur- 
thermore they know that they should "not yoke 
themselves unequally together with unbelievers." 
Both parties being equally strong in their faith, 
equally governed by their prejudices, and equally 
unyielding, such marriages are not allowed to be 
consummated. 

Occasionally a Persian or a Turk will capture 
and carry off a pretty girl among the Nestorian and 
Armenian Christians, compel her to become a Mo- 
hammedan, and then marry her. With these few 
exceptions each sect marries within its own bounds. 

In some instances a stranger may almost gain 
the consent of those concerned to marry a beautiful 
and wealthy girl, but before the negotiations have 
been completed, her relatives will hear of it and pro- 
pose one of their sons as a suitor, in order to keep 
her from marrying a stranger. Such matches are 
made from purely selfish motives and are seldom 
happy, hence a saying in Persia, "When cousins 
marry they are never happy." 

In addition to the fact that people are usually 
little acquainted except in their own villages, there 
is another objection that weighs with them against 
having their sons take wives from other villages 
situated at any great distance from them, and that 
is the inconvenience of making the journey to and 



12 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

from the wife's home in a country where there are 
no railroads and few wogon roads even. In case 
there is sickness, or death, or any occasion of great 
rejoicing, the young wife would naturally want to 
visit her old home, and then the journey would have 
to be made on foot or on horse back. If the distance 
were too long to walk and they owned neither horse 
nor donkey, the husband would be compelled to hire 
them and thus involve extra expense. These argu- 
ments may seem strange to the young people of this 
country who make their own matches without much 
consideration at all, except their own inclinations in 
the matter, but they must remember that in Persia 
it is really the parents of the contracting parties 
who make the matches and they weigh well the argu- 
ments pro and con, and furthermore the children 
are noted for their unquestioning obedience to their 
parents. 

As has been stated before, the population of Per- 
sia is made up of many different tribes and nation- 
alities and while this description is of the Assyrian 
Christians of Persia, it should be remembered that 
many of these customs are common to all the inhabi- 
tants of Persia, as for instance, their manner of show- 
ing their affection for the girl they wish to marry, 
their method of finding out whether the girl their 
parents wish them to marry pleases them, their send- 
ing a ring to her, their throwing apples toward her, 
her riding through the streets on horse back, the in- 
viting of guests to the wedding, etc. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 13 
BETROTHALS. 

The people of Persia live in towns, villages, and 
cities, so the boys and girls learn to know each other 
in their childhood, and form their childish attach- 
ments which often ripen into love as they reach the 
age of maturity. 

Children develop very rapidly in the eastern or 
Asiatic countries, arriving, as they do at their ma- 
turity from twelve years old and upwards. 

A boy may often love a girl very ardently for 
years but he is always so bashful that he tries to con- 
ceal his feelings which, however, will get the better 
of him to this extent that he will frequent the places 
where he is most likely to catch a glimpse of the 
object of his devotion. This his friends and rela- 
tives will notice and they may ask him if he loves 
that girl or tell him that they think he does when 
he will blush and deny it most vehemently. Some- 
times he will feel so ashamed that he will even cry. 
The same is true of the girl. When the parents of 
the boy hear that their son is supposed to be in love 
with a certain girl, they take the matter under dis- 
cussion between themselves. Should they dislike 
the girl or should their circumstances be such that 
they feel unable to assume this additional expense 
they will find many ways in which to show the boy 
their disapproval of his attachment. On the other 
hand, should they like the girl and her parents, and 
should they be well-to-do people, they will decide at 
once to have their son marry her if it is really true 
that he loves her, and not simply a report. But to 
ascertain the real state of the case is quite a difficult 



14 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

task. A few boys may be found who are bold 
enough to speak truthfully with their mothers about 
it, but never one who dares discuss the subject of 
marriage with his father, — they have too much re- 
spect for him for that. So, in most cases, the par- 
ents will see their boy's most intimate friend, tell 
him what they have heard about their son and that 
they approve of his choice and would like to have 
him marry her. This friend will see their son, dis- 
cuss the matter with him and report the true state 
of affairs back to his parents. Such consideration, 
however, is not accorded to girls. Their wishes in 
the matter are never consulted. If a girl's parents 
approve of an offer of marriage made for her, she has 
to accept it and marry as her parents dictate whether 
she likes it or not. 

Upon hearing this report from his son's friend 
the father will say, "I may die soon; therefore I will 
try to associate my son with men before my death/' 
Hence the expression, "Have you associated?" or 
"are you going to associate your son with men? 1 ' 
Which, of course, means that a young man is a mere 
boy until he is married, but after that he becomes a 
man. 

Among all the nationalities that live in Persia 
the marrying of their children is considered a sacred 
duty, and the marriage of a son is looked upon as the 
happiest event in his parents' lives, and an occasion 
of the greatest rejoicing; for an unmarried man is 
considered the most miserable and wretched of be- 
ings. He is compared to a bird sitting on the top 
of a bush and not knowing where to fly. They have 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 15 

little sympathy, however, for the marriage of widow- 
ers. 

In some instances children are bethothed in their 
infancy by their parents. We have heard of a case 
where two men were the best of friends and decided 
between themselves, that if one of them should have 
a son ami the other a daughter, they would marry 
them in order to perfect and perpetuate their friend- 
ship. In due time the two children were born, one 
a boy, the other a girl; their two cradles were 
brought together and the marriage ceremony per- 
formed. 

In cases where children are engaged to each 
other when they are only a few years old, by their 
parents, who are good friends and wish thereby to 

4. 

perpetuate their friendship, the marriages are often 
quite happy. The two little ones as they are grow- 
ing up know that they are intended for each other 
and do not allow themselves to think of any one 
else but grow to love each other from a sense of duty 
and filial obedience. 

A father may try to have his son marry when he 
has just reached the age of maturity, when he does 
not love any one. Several girls of his village may 
be suggested to him and he may not like any of them, 
but his parents may require him to marry the one 
they like best. She may dislike him also, but that 
. makes no difference. If her parents wish her to 
marry him she will have to submit. Sometimes 
parents may induce their son to marry an intelli- 
gent girl who is not beautiful by telling him the fol- 
lowing story: "Once there was a king who disguised 



16 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

himself in the costume of a dervish and went around 
among his subjects to see if they were happy and if 
justice was properly administered by his officers. 
In so doing it happened that once he became the 
guest of a weaver who had a very beautiful wife. 
The king was very much impressed by her beauty 
and repeated his visits so often that both the weaver 
and his wife discovered that he was not a dervish 
but their king in disguise, and that he was altogether 
too much pleased by her beauty. Then the weaver's 
wife colored some eggs — several of them she died 
in very beautiful rich colors, and several of them 
were not so pretty. When the supposed dervish 
came again she placed all of the colored eggs before 
him and asked which of them he thought prettiest. 
He, of course, picked out the pretty bright colored 
ones. She then asked him to remove the shells from 
all of them. When he had done so she asked, which 
are the most beautiful now? He, of course, replied 
that they are all alike. So it is with women, she 
told him, some appear beautiful, some do not, but 
remove their outward adornments and they are all 
alike — real beauty is in the intellect, the soul. Then 
the king understood that they had found out who he 
was and why he came so often, and he respected her 
wisdom and repented for the evil designs he had 
cherished with regard to her, and appointed her 
husband his vizier." So the parents will tell their 
son, "see to it that you marry for intellectual worth 
that is enduring and not for beauty, which at best 
is a fading thing of no real value." Christian parents 
will quote the words of Solomon, "Favor is deceitful. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 17 

and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the 
Lord she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of 
her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates/' 
If the parents of the boy are reasonable, how- 
ever, they will not force him to marry a girl against 
his will, but will suggest several other suitable girls 
in neighboring towns or villages. The son will wish 
to see the girl before his parents make any arrange- 
ments for the engagement. So he will select his 
shrewdest friend as a companion and they will go 
to her village presumably on some business errand 
such as to purchase an ox, or a buffalo, or something 
of that kind, and coming to her father's house in this 
or some similar way, he will get a chance to see the 
girl, and not only see her, but coming thus unex- 
pectedly he will find her in her every day clothes, 
looking just as he may expect to find her look most 
of the time in his own home should he decide to 
marry her. Should he wish to see her closer, he will 
follow an old eastern custom, and like Abraham's 
servant, when he went to get Eebekah for Isaac, he 
will pretend to be very thirsty and ask her for water 
for them to drink. In this way he will get a good 
look at her, but only for a moment, and under no 
circumstances is he allowed to speak with her of love 
or marriage or to enter into an engagement with her 
or kiss her as young people do in this country. To 
kiss a girl in Persia means that you rob her of her 
beauty, and is considered a great and unpardonable 
crime. After the two friends have seen the girl in 
question they will return home where they will at 
once be asked, "Is it a girl, or a boy?" If the boy 



18 .ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

liked the appearance of the girl they went to see, his 
friend will reply, "It is a boy." If he did not like 
her his friend will say, "It is a girl." We will sup- 
pose that the boy was much pleased with the girl he 
went to see, and although he had such a plausible 
reason for going, her parents will in many cases 
know beforehand, or guess the real mission of his 
visit, or else they will afterwards find out that the 
two young men were there to see their daughter. 

In case the parents of the boy are not so influen- 
tial as those of the girl, they will not go immediately 
to make an engagement lest her parents might re- 
fuse their offer and thus disappoint their hopes and 
make them the subject of ridicule in the community. 
Sometimes they will consult a fortune-teller first, to 
find out if her parents will consent to her marriage 
with their son, and then after having waited long 
enough not to appear over-anxious about it, they will 
go to see her parents about the alliance. Her par- 
ents in turn may know of a wealthier boy whom they 
like better, too, and whom they think might become 
their daughter's suitor in case he finds out that she 
has another offer of marriage. So they will delay 
the giving of a definite answer to the parents of the 
poorer boy until the matter has had time, through 
the gossips of the place, to reach the ears of the 
wealthier boy. If the wealthier one becomes a suitor 
also, that usually settles the matter for the poorer 
one, unless he is reputed to be very bright and intel- 
ligent. In such a case the parents must choose be- 
tween wealth and wisdom, and these two will be laid 
in the balance, so to speak. In the judgment of 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 19 

some parents wisdom and intelligence will outweigh 
wealth, while with others wealth far out-weighs 
every other consideration. Hence the song, "O dear! 
ihey laugh. If I be poor, they will laugh. If I have 
knowledge as vast as the ocean but be poor, still they 
will laugh." Still the wise do entertain hopes that 
their wisdom may win in spite of the wealth of their 
rivals, and girls' parents do sometimes change their 
minds and choose personal worth instead of wealth 
at the very last moment. 

The parents of a rich young man, however, al- 
ways feel sure that they will not be disappointed 
when they go to make an engagement with the par- 
ents of a girl. They will appoint a certain evening 
to go to the girl's home, when she wiH be required to 
be absent. The boy's father will take with him an 
influential and highly respected man of the place to 
be his spokesman in order to gain influence and in- 
sure the success of their great undertaking, for this 
is considered an occasion of great moment in Persia. 
About eight o'clock in the evening of the appointed 
day these persons, the father of the boy and his most 
influential friend will go to the house of the girl's 
parents. They will sit and talk together for some 
time on general topics, until finally the friend whom 
the boy's father has taken as his representative, will 
come to the object of their visit by saying to the 
girl's parents, "You do not ask why we have come 
here." When they will ask why. He will then tell 
the object of their visit and they will all discuss it 
together. Finally this representative friend will 
ask the girl's father if he is willing to unite his 



20 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

daughter in marriage to the son of this friend of his. 
If the parents are willing for the union the father 
will say, "Her mother knows." Then the friend will 
ask the mother the^ same question to which she will 
reply, "I have nothing to say, for my part, I can pre- 
sent her to you as a pair of shoes or a red apple; you 
had better ask her father." The same question will 
then be repeated to the father who will say, "I can 
give her to you as a handmaid." These answers 
from the father and mother mean that they are will 
ing for the marriage to take place. So the represen- 
tative rises at once and in a most grateful manner 
kisses the hands of the girPs parents and sometimes 
those of her other relatives present also. 

The boy's father follows his example, after which 
they will thank them heartily for their courtesy and 
for their not having disappointed their hopes and 
plans. Lastly the consent of the girl herself must 
be gained, and every wise young man knows all about 
this. So he has already secured a ring for the girl 
and has sent it along with her father and his friend 
to her. She, as we have before stated, is not at home 
on this occasion. At this point in the proceedings 
the ring is produced, however, and handed to some 
old lady, a trusted friend of the girPs family, who 
takes it together with the one from the other young 
man whose parents her parents have kept waiting 
for an answer while they should have time to con- 
sider the matter, and goes to the girl wherever she 
may be stopping. She presents both of the rings to 
the girl telling her at the same time whose each one 
is and adding as she hands them to her, "You may 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 21 

choose now whichever one you wish and put it on 
your finger and then give it back to me;' This, of 
eourse,is a mild falsehood required by the customs of 
the country, just as in this country we always tell 
our visitors and callers that we are so glad to see 
them regardless of the facts in the situation. In this 
case the girl has no choice in the matter whatever, 
and she knows it perfectly well, so she puts on the 
ring belonging to the boy whom her parents have 
previously told her she shall accept after which she 
returns both to the old lady who takes them and goes 
back to the accepted boy's waiting father and friend 
and announces to them which ring she accepted and 
which one she rejected. In case the girl had but one 
offer of marriage and consequently but one ring car- 
ried to her, then the old lady will come back and 
smilingly say, "May her face be white! When I 
presented the ring to her she didn't say a word, but 
boldly took the ring and put it on her finger and re- 
turned it to me." Her putting the ring on her finger 
means that she is willing to be married to the boy 
who sent it. His father will then give her a piece 
of sold which she is to wear around her neck as a 
symbol of her betrothal. The boy's father gives also 
as presents, some silver money in a cup of water or 
wine to the girl's mother and to some of her female 
relatives. 

During all this time the boy in question has been 
waiting most anxiously for news of his acceptance. 
In order to bring this news to him a little more 
quickly a friend of his, a boy of course, will try to 
be present during the negotiations if he can get into 



22 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

the house. Usually he can not do this so he will 
either get up upon the roof of the house, which is flat 
and listen at the window, which is in the center of it, 
or else he will go into the house of the girl's next 
door neighbor, which is often separated by only a 
single partition wall through which the two families 
have made a small hole for communication with each 
other, and at this hole he will listen to their pro- 
ceedings, going immediately at the close of them 
with the joyful news to the accepted suitor, who 
gives him a present according to his ability for this 
kind office. 

The next morning everybody will be talking 
about the engagement and saying, "See, they have 
kissed hands and put on the token of the betrothal," 
This is the first part of the espousal of a girl. If the 
boy and the girl have been in the habit of speaking 
to each other heretofore when they had no idea that 
they should ever be given to each other in marriage 
that will all be stopped henceforth. The girl will 
avoid meeting her intended husband as much as pos- 
sible. If she should see him standing in the street 
talking with any one in the way she was intending 
to go, she will turn and go in another direction. 
Should they through any chance meet, they will not 
speak, but she will cover her face instead. Whenever 
she meets any of the boy's relatives she will hide her 
face in order to show them and the public in general 
that she no longer cares for any one else. This cover- 
ing of the face is considered an act of modesty and 
every self-respecting engaged girl is especially care- 
ful to do it in the presence of her intended father- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 23 

in-law and mother-in-law to show them that she re- 
spects the act of her betrothal and is perfectly sat- 
isfied with it. 

Soon after the betrothal the boy's mother will 
send a breakfast to her intended daughter-in-law 
consisting of several loaves or cakes of bread called 
"kada." ! This breakfast is usually sent by some 
lady with whom the girl may talk. She will sit 
there and talk quite a while with the girl and the 
other members of her household. Sometimes she 
will even talk too much as ladies are reputed to be 
apt to do in all countries. 

Some time after this they will decide upon some 
evening to spend at the home of the betrothed girl 
and will prepare and take with them refreshments 
for the occasion. Some of their most intimate and 
most prominent friends and a priest will accompany 
them. After supper different kinds of nuts and 
raisins will be served among which small lumps of 
sugar are sometimes found. Each guest upon being 
served will sav, "Mav she be blessed!" 

After the refreshments have been disposed of a 
ring will be brought, over which the priest will recite 
a service which is considered a part of the marriage 
ceremony. This ring is afterwards worn by the be- 
trothed girl. If either of the two contracting par- 
ties should try to break the engagement after this 
they would be considered gross offenders and viola- 
tors of the law of marriage, which among the Assy- 
rian Christians is regarded most sacred. When 
this part of the ceremony has taken place the boy's 
parents will make an agreement as to how much 



24 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

money they are to give the girl's parents for the pur- 
chase of her wedding outfit. They will at the same 
time fix upon a date when the wedding proper is to 
take place and the bride be brought to the home of 
her father-in-law. 

After her betrothal the girl will be very busy 
sewing, preparing articles that are to be taken with 
her to the house of her future father-in-law. 

These articles are all made by hand and consist of 
clothing, ornaments for the house, purses, and caps, 
and may cost from ten to thirty dollars according to 
their circumstances. 

The caps particularly are very skillfully and ar- 
tisticaly embroidered and all the articles are ex- 
hibited to all the invited guests on the last day of the 
wedding, and are afterwards given by her father-in 
law and mother-in-law to their most intimate friends 
and relatives. 

If they are neatly and beautifully made the bride 
will receive much praise and commendation for 
them, as the ability to use her needle deftly is con- 
sidered one of the greatest of womanly accomplish 
meets in Persia. 

During the intervening weeks or months or even 
years between the betrothal and the marriage cere- 
mony the young man will often try to see and talk 
with his fiancee, but if her parents are strict and 
conservative in their habits, careful of their good 
name, and have, as most Persians do, a profound re 
spect for their national customs, they will allow him 
to see her only once during that time, then for only 
a few minutes and that too in the presence of her 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 25 

mother or some other good woman. While making 
this call he will give her a piece of gold or else three 
or four dollars. 

If, on the other hand her parents are careless and 
lax in their family government he will be allowed to 
see her oftener and although nothing more serious 
comes of it he will be seen going there, and herfamily 
will by this carelessness become the talk of the town 
and a dark blot will be cast upon their reputation, 
rendering it impossible for them to make advan- 
tageous marriage alliance, for their other daughters, 
should they have more. 

Every young man, however, is allowed to send 
trifles as presents to his affianced bride at different 
times during the period of their engagement as ex 
pressions of his affection for her. 

For instance, if he has a little sister he may send 
by her such trifles as these, a nice red apple stuck 
all over with cloves to makes it fragrant, a little 
mirror having a small case on the back which he 
fills with chewing gum or cloves, some black anti- 
mony to blacken her eyes with, to beautify them and 
as a prevention of sore eyes, so prevalent in Persia, 
some good handkerchiefs, or best of all fifty cents or 
a dollar in money. These presents as stated before 
are tokens of his love. This is especially true of those 
that are sweet smelling, so often mentioned in Per- 
sian love songs. 

"0 that the morning wind would blow, 
Prom the direction that my sweet heart lives. 
A sweet fragrance from her to me bring 
To cool off this my burning heart. 7 ' 



26 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

A day or two before the appointed day of the 
wedding several persons, constituting a committee, 
meet together and appoint some suitable and capa- 
ble man to be manager of the wedding and several 
young men to be put under his command and ready 
for his orders. 

This committee also engages a competent old 
lady who knows how to cook well and economically 
to* attend to that part of the wedding feast. This 
woman does all in her power to make the feast ap- 
pear as bountiful as possible with the least possible 
expense. She has under her direction several other 
ladies as assistants and some young girls to carry 
water to the house where the wedding is to take 
place. This often has to be carried quite a distance. 

The committee also decides how many days the 
wedding is to continue. Weddings usually occupy 
from one to four days. We will here describe a four 
days' wedding in order to give a full account. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE WEDDING. 

The first day of the wedding is called "Animal 
killing day" and the evening of it "Steak eating 
eve." A couple of days before the wedding the 
father of the bridegroom sends out a number of 
young men as heralds to his friends and relatives 
in all the surrounding towns and villages to invite 
them to the wedding. These heralds put on their 
holiday costumes and take each one a long thick 
staff in his hand and set out on their errand. When 
they enter a house they greet the household by say- 
ing "Shla-mal-okoon" or "Sal-am-alakum." Peace be 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 27 

unto you." They will reply, "Bshana," "Welcome." 
They then announce that we have been sent to you 

by Mr. and Mrs. because they are going to have 

their son, "Babakhan" married. They wish us to 
tell you that this occasion of gladness is not theirs 
but yours, their friends' and relatives'; therefore 
they invite you to attend the wedding. They will 
be delighted to see you present, even with your 
whole family. The wedding will begin on — day 
next and will continue four days. They will reply 
"We are very glad of it. May it be a happy occasion 
from its very beginning to its close. May God make 

Mr. and Mrs. very happy and permit them to 

see many more marriages in their family. May He 
also bless the young couple with a pleasant life to- 
gether, and make them fruitful, the parents of many 
sons and daughters." Among the western Asiatic 
people, children are considered a blessing from 
God. Hence, when any one becomes angry with a 
childless married man he will taunt him with this 
fact saying that he is a bad man, that he is cursed 
from above and that is why he is childless. 

After the foregoing conversation between the 
heralds and the head of the house the lady of the 
house will ask them to sit down and have some din- 
ner, but they will thank her kindly saying at the 
same time that they must decline her hospitality and 
hurry on as they have to go to many more places yet 
She will then give them as an expression of courtesy 
and friendship a couple of apples or quinces. As 
they are leaving the head of the house will tell then] 
to say to Mr. and Mrs. "May God bless their 



28 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

wedding. We will try to come." Thus the heralds 
will go to each family of friends and relatives that 
are to be invited until they have seen all after which 
they will return to the bridegroom's father who will 
ask them how they found his friends and relatives 
and if they seemed happy and felt pleased about the 
wedding and if they intend to come. The heralds 
will, of course, give a correct report. 

The parents of the bride to be will also send out 
heralds to invite their friends and relatives. They 
perform their errand in much the same way except 
that they are not quite so bold or happy or noisy as 
those sent out by the groom's parents. When they 
enter a house, after having extended the usual 

sreetinsT thev will sav Mr. and Mrs. have sent 

us to invite you to come to the departure of their 
daughter "Parangez." They use the word depar- 
ture because she will then leave her home and 
parents to go and live the remainder of her life in 
another home. They can use the word wedding but 
this other word in the Syriac language combines 
both ideas, that of departure and of a wedding. 

The answers given are so nearly the same as 
those given the boy's heralds that we will not re- 
peat theim 

The parents of the boy give to each of their 
neighbor ladies several pounds of wheat flour to 
bake bread for the wedding. In Persia they bake 
very soft bread. Each loaf is about two feet long 
and one foot wide and almost as thin as blotting 
paper. 

When the mother of the boy bakes bread for the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 29 

wedding she takes the first loaf she bakes and care- 
fully wraps it up and hides it. The reader will find 
out by and by what is done with this loaf. 

The Assyrian Christians of Persia lay much 
stress upon having a best man or groomsman and a 
bridesmaid. The office of these two persons is per- 
haps as old as their religion. 

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEDDING CALLED ANIMAL KILL- 
ING DAY AND STEAK EATING EVE. 

In the afternoon of the first day of the wedding 
an animal, it makes no difference whether large or 
small, is provided. When they are going to kill it, 
two musicians previously engaged for the purpose 
begin playing, one on a drum, the other on a haiu 
boy, and the groomsman must be present as a mat- 
ter of course. When the first notes of music are 
sounded the hearts of the bridegrooms relatives 
swell with joy. If his parents, brothers, and sisters 
wish to dance they can do so now to show how very 
happy they are. If any outsider, however, should 
dare to take part in the dancing he would be repri 
manded most severely by the people because he has 
no occasion for so great joy, and dancing except by 
the bridegroom's family and friends on such oc- 
casions is considered both to be very wicked and to 
tend to immorality. Dancing in Persia is quite 
different from the dancing in this country. There 
when a woman dances she takes a handkerchief in 
each hand swaying them up and down, to and fro, 
accompanying the same with a few simple move- 
ments of her body. We are glad to say that even 



30 ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

this comparatively innocent dancing is fast dying out 
in Persia, for dancing of whatever kind is demoraliz- 
ing to any nation and should never be indulged in 
by Christian people. But to return to our subject. 
After the head has been cut from the animal, if 
the bridegroom happens to have an old-fashioned 
and superstitiuos mother she will at once take the 
knife used in cutting off the animal's head and close 
it with the blood still upon it and put it away care- 
fully where she has alreadv hidden the first loaf of 
■breaiL At the end of the wedding she will put this 
bloody knife and the loaf of bread under the pillow 
of the newlv-married couple. She does this to ward 

«, x 

off evil, to protect them from their enemies, and to 
preserve them from an evil eye, from witchcraft, 
or other magical arts so common in Asiatic countries 
and practiced among the Mohammedans. 

Shortly before sunset of the first day of the wed- 
ding two heralds, a young lady and a young man, 
are sent out to each home in the village to announce 
that the wedding is beginning. They are followed 
by the musicians playing in the streets with crowds 
of children around them. The heralds go from 
house to house inviting each household by saying, 

"Mr. and Mrs. are marrying their son 'Babak- 

han.' They say the wedding is not for them but for 
their neighbors, friends, and relatives, and there- 
fore they bid you come." The heralds also tell them 
that the wedding is to continue through four days 
and what the arrangements are for each day. They 
tell them very explicitly when the bride is to be 
brought forth to go to the house of her father-in- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 31 

lav/. Each family makes the reply, "May God bless 
the wedding." The lady of the house may treat the 
young man to some apples, quinces, or nuts. If the 
village consists of a hundred houses or more the 
heralds go to each house once each day and repeat 
the same invitation. Should there be any who have 
a grudge against the groom's parents the latter will, 
go and ask their forgiveness and give them a special 
invitation to their wedding. They also extend a 
special invitation to all the prominent persons of the 
village, such as the priest or the chief of the 
village. It makes no difference that these persons 
have already been invited by the heralds, custom 
requires that they receive a special invitation be- 
sides. 

The bride's parents send out the heralds only 
twice in the village to invite guests to their home. 
These heralds are not so noisy as those of the groom 
and their invitation is not so general but is confined 
to their friends and near neighbors. The guests as- 
semble only twice at the home of the bride's parents 
during the progress of the wedding. 

Any one who is going to make a small present 
in money to the parents of the groom may go and 
have both breakfast and supper at their house. 

On the afternoon of the first day of the wedding 
supper is prepared and at about six o'clock the 
guests begin to arrive. When all are present and 
supper is ready the manager of the feast asks all to 
be silent while the priest says grace. As he finishes 
many of the guests say "Amen, may it be blessed." 

For supper each guest receives besides the regu- 



32 ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

lar supper a small piece of beefsteak. Hence the 
first night of the wedding is called steak-eating eve. 

In eating they do not use knives and forks but 
their fingers instead. Nor do thej have tables, but 
upon such wedding occasions they spread upon the 
floor a yard wide piece of muslin about twenty or 
thirty yards long. Upon this the bread and dishes 
are placed and waiters serve the guests. When all 
have finished eating the manager again commands 
silence while the priest returns thanks after which 
the guests disperse. 

In addition to the steak we have already men- 
tioned from two to four other kinds of food are pre- 
pared for the wedding feast Two kinds being 
usually served at each meal. For instance they cut 
meat into small pieces, a trifle smaller than pieces 
of loaf sugar and mix with them either cracked 
wheat or rice and some onions and a little pepper 
and neatly wrap each piece in the young tender 
leaves of the white grape or bits of cabbage leaves. 
These wrapped up morsels are called "dolnia." 
Grape wine is also served during the entire wedding 
feast. 

SECOND DAY OF THE WEDDING, CALLED NANAGUSHT DAY 

AND HENNA EVE. 

In the forenoon of the second day of the wed- 
ding it is customary for the groom's parents to send 
to the bride's parents some meat, some rice, and sev- 
eral pounds of butter. These things are sent by 
young men who carry them on their heads and are 
accompanied by musicians playing music suitable 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 33 

for the occasion and followed by a crowd of happy 
people. Upon delivering this gift, called "Nana- 
gusht" to the bride's parents, the bearers of it, the 
musicians, and the crowd all return again to the 
home of the groom's parents. 

In the evening all the relatives, friends and 
neighbors of the bride's parents assemble at her 
Lome. She is allowed to invite all of her girl friends 
also and a free supper is served to all of them after 
which all await the coming of the party from the 
groom's home. After the guests of the groom's par- 
ents have had supper there, many of the menbothold 
and young get ready to go to the bride's home. The 
young people and the heralds carry with them light- 
ed lamps, tallow candles, and torches^made by tying 
rags dipped in castor oil to wooden handles or sticks. 
In this way a gay procession is formed and, accom- 
pained by the musicians, goes to the bride's home 
stopping at short intervals to shout "hurrah." 
Upon their arrival they are seated in order while the 
bride's relatives make a paste of the pounded leaves 
of the "henna." This put upon the hands makes 
them quite red. The best-man must now give a 
present of twenty-five or forty cents to the brides- 
maid and about ten cents to the musicians where- 
upon they begin playing and the bridesmaid puts 
henna upon the bride's hands to make them red as 
an emblem of joy. In Persia red is considered the 
emblem of victory and joy,white of purity, and black 
o£ sorrow. Upon this joyful occasion the groom's 
nearest relatives and best friends sometimes indulge 
in dancing. After the henna has been put upon the 



34 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

bride's hands the gay party returns to the groom's 
home where his best man puts henna upon the 
groom's hands but no more presents are required of 
him unless the musicians should ask a fee. 

THIRD DAY OF THE WEDDING CALLED BRINGING FORTH 
OF THE BRIDE TO GO TO THE HOUSE OF HER FATHER- 
IN-LAW, AND PRESENT COLLECTING EVE. 

On the morning of the third day of the wedding 
the musicians go upon the roof of the groom's house 
and play for about half an hour in order to announce 
to the village that breakfast is about ready and that 
this is the day on which the bride is to be brought 
forth from her home to go to the house of her father- 
in-law. After breakfast is served preparations are 
made for the bringing out of the bride in the after- 
noon. At about three o'clock in the afternoon the 
procession from the groom's home sets out in great 
pomp led by the musicians playing as loud as they 
can and the heralds shouting hurrah every now and 
then as they go to the bride's home. Arriving there 
quite a company of the relatives, friends, and neigh- 
bors of the bride's parents are found already as- 
sembled and a lunch is now served, after which the 
committee holds a meeting to make all further 
necessary arrangements. At the same time all the 
intimate friends of the bride are present and the lady 
who taught her to sew dresses her in a regular bridal 
costume, placing a wooden ring, about an inch thick 
and five inches high, upon her head. Over this a 
fancy veil is placed entirely covering her face and 
reaching the floor, while a bright red canopy is sus- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 35 

pended from the, back of the ring completely con- 
cealing her form and dress even and making of her 
simply a beautiful figure. No one can see her face 
but she of course can see quite a bit through her veil. 
The wooden ring thus covered is now ornamented 
with tinsel to make it look like a crown as she is now 
queen of this occasion. Thus arrayed (if her parents 
are of the old type, and they usually are,) one lady 
takes her by the right hand another by the left and 
lead her close to the oven which is built of clay and 
is about four feet deep by two and a half feet in 
diameter. WMl e the musicians play a most doleful 
tune she is led around this oven about seven times 
to signify that she is bidding farewell to the home 
of her childhood and young maidenhood with all of 
its tender ties, memories, and associations. The 
oven in Persia, corresponding to the English hearth- 
stone, is considered the dearest and most sacred 
spot in the home siuce it is there that they bake and 
cook and enjoy the blessings which God daily pro- 
vides for them. This is especially true of the Mo- 
hammedans who often swear "by this oven." Hav- 
ing been led seven times around the oven the bride 
coming in great humility and gratitude kneels at 
her father's feet and kisses them at the same time 
both she and her father weep most bitterly in view 
of their approaching separation. Then her father 
may kiss her and pronounces upon her a father's bless- 
ing, saying, "My daughter may God bless you and 
keep you and make you happy and successful, the 
mother of sons and daughters." Usually he will 
say "the mother of seven sons and two daughters." 



36 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Then the bride goes in the same way and takes leave 
of her mother and the other members of her family, 
after which the groom's brother binds a girdle 
around her as an emblem of strength^ for which ser- 
vice a cap is placed upon his head. This custom of 
pronouncing a benediction upon a bride is very old 
and may have originated among the descendants of 
Shem, who continued faithful in the worship of the 
true and living God for we read in the 24th chapter 
of the book of Genesis that when Rebekah was ready 
to depart from her home with Abraham's chief ser- 
vant Eliezer to meet Isaac "They blessed Rebekah 
and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the 
mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed 
possess the gate of those which hate them." The 
custom of veiling the bride is also a very old one, for 
we read in the same account of the marriage of Re- 
bekah to Isaac that when Isaac went out into the 
field to meet Rebekah and she saw him and was told 
by Eliezer that it was Isaac she alighted from her 
camel and took a veil and covered herself. It is a 
means of expressing her maidenly modesty and hu- 
mility and the depth and genuineness of her love 
It is no doubt some such scene as this that the 
Apostle Paul has in mind when he compares the love 
of Christ and his church to that of husband and wife. 
After the girdle has been put upon the bride the 
musicians continue playing their doleful tune. By 
this time her father-in-law has a horse ready for her 
outside the house while the streets and tops of the 
houses are filled with noisy crowds of people eagerly 
waiting for the appearance of the bride. Every 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 37 

bride in Persia must try to ride gracefully for this 
custom of veiling a bride and having her ride 
through the streets on horse-back means a great deal 
to the people there. Thus veiled and seated on 
horse-back she is presented to the public as a beauti- 
ful figure only, and as such excites no feeling of sen- 
suality in the minds of the spectators. The demon 
stration shows her modesty, humility, and moral 
purity to the eyes of the public and proves that she 
has strictly observed all the laws of chastity and is 
thus found worthy the honor of becoming a bride, of 
being gorgeously dressed in a bride's costume, of 
being put upon horse-back and escorted like a queen 
by a crowd of people, by music, dancing, shouting, 
hurrahing, and shooting of pistols for such honors 
are never accorded a bad girl in Persia. 

The ladies conduct her out but they are stopped 
at the door bv her brother who asks a brother's cus- 
tomary present which is at once given him by the 
bride's father-in-law. After this she is taken to the 
horse she is to ride, and' a low table is placed under 
her feet. As she springs upon the horse every eye 
in the crowd is fixed upon her to see if she rides 
gracefully. If she does she is greatly praised and 
admired for it by the crowd of joyful spectators and 
those who were unavoidably absent ask with much 
concern if she rode gracefully. As soon as she is 
mounted the musicians change their tune to a happy 
and exciting one. Her parents and some of the 
other members of her family remain at home, how- 
ever, weeping for although they are glad she is 
being married they cannot help feeling sad at the 



38 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

thought that henceforth her place in their home 
circle will be vacant, she is no longer one of them. 
This is why the musicians played such a mournful 
tune. 

Her father-in-law now throws some pieces of cop- 
per money upon her head to show his liberality and 
there are always a number of children present to 
snatch them up as they fall to the ground. One of 
the bride's relatives accompanies her holding the 
bridle of her horse. They take off one of her shoes 
and pass it several times around the horse's neck 
and then replace it upon her foot. This custom is 
copied from the Mohammedans who think in this 
way to avoid a misfortune that might otherwise be- 
fall the groom. She then moves on through the 
streets, the crowds on the house tops, and in the 
streets follow her, the musicians continue their play- 
ing while the whole party are led by the groom's 
relatives dancing as they go. If there is a supersti- 
tious old man, a relative of the groom, in the crowd 
he will follow the bride's horse watching closely so 
that no one may tie knots in the hairs of its tail and 
thereby bring misfortune upon the couple in their 
married life. When they have gone a little distance 
one of the groom's maids, (a term and office for 
which there is no equivalent in English), meets them 
carrying a little wooden or copper tray on which are 
placed several loaves of bread and a thin saucer con- 
taining some coals of fire upon which she has placed 
some frankincense. This she hands to the bride 
lifting her veil as she does so. The bride takes it, 
smells the sweet odor, places from five to ten cents 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 39 

on the tray and returns it to the bearer. The bread 
is emblematic of blessing and the frankincense of 
good wishes. 

When they have gone a little further another 
lady comes to meet the bride carrying a child two or 
three years old, a boy of course. She lifts the 
bride's canopy and places the child in her lap. The 
bride kisses him, gives him a few pennies and re- 
turns him to the lady. The child signifies good tid 
ings. The groom now puts on his costume. Upon 
the cap that he wears he places a crown made of the 
red feathers of the flamingo. He also wears a sash 
^nd a dagger which represent kingly power. For 
this occasion his groomsman must also prepare a 
"Jumlana," that is a piece of wood. about two feet 
square mounted upon a wooden handle about six 
feet long. This wooden square is bored full of small 
holes into which wooden pegs are driven. Upon 
these pegs there are stuck apples, pears, colored 
eggs and four pomegrantes one on each corner and 
two small wooden doves are perched upon the upper 
edge. Strings of figs, dates and pop-corn are also 
placed upon this "Jumlana" and the back of it is 
covered with a red handkerchief. It then looks like 
a beautifully ornamented banner and is carried by 
his comrades along with him as he now goes upon 
a Conveniently located house top and sits there like 
a king upon his throne to watch his bride ap- 
proaching. 

One of the heralds is given a chicken from the 
bride's home as a present for the groom. This is 
called the groom-bird. The bride's father also 



40 ' ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

sends him some clothing consisting of a coat, a purse 
a handkerchief and a cap. The latter must be beau- 
tifully made for he wears it on this occasion and 
people look at it very closely to see if the bride can 
sew nicely. This is also sent by the herald who in 
turn gives a present to the lady who has taught the 
bride to sew. A cap, purse, and handkerchief are 
also sent to the groomsman for which the groom's 
comrades pay a present of from twenty-five to fifty 
cents to the herald after which the groomsman 
wears them. At this time the bride is seen slowly ad- 
vancing followed by a crowd of spectators on the 
streets and upon the house tops. Hence a saying 
in Persia "when there is a wedding three persons 
are happy — the two who are being married and the 
one who is crazy in the village." While the bride 
is passing through the streets some of the spectators, 
upon the house tops throw handfuls of raisins upon 
her head. These symbolize sweetness and carry 
with them the wish that the bride may become very 
sweet-tempered. At this time the groom feels most 
proud and happy as he sits among his companions 
upon the top of a high house dressed in his wedding 
clothes, and sees his bride coming to him upon 
horse-back dressed in her bridal costume with the 
glittering tinsel upon her crown and the heralds 
firing pistols and guns and shouting hurrah at each 
short distance. Hence they say, "A man is twice 
happy in this life — when he begins to walk and 
when he is going to be married." 

When the bride approaches to within a stones- 
throw of the place where the groom is awaiting her 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 41 

she is stopped and his comrades rise and three times 
they give him a sip of wine. As he swallows each 
sip they shout for joy most vociferously and the best 
man hands him an apple taken from the "Jumlana"' 
which he kisses and throws toward the bride. The 
wine symbolizes joy and blessing and the apples, 
love. He may just for fun try to hit the bride with 
the apples' for it would not hurt her to speak of even 
if he should strike her dressed as she is. In this, how- 
ever, lie seldom succeeds. The apples usually miss 
their mark and falling to the gound are quickly 
snatched up by the crowd of children around her. The 
child who gets the first apple thrown is to be the 
first one of that group of children to be married. 
After the apples have been thrown at the bride they 
will not take her to the house of her father-in-law 
but to the house of some one of her friends or rela- 
tives or those of the groom. Sometimes there are 
quite a number of families who want to entertaiu 
her and each one will try to take her from the others. 
Sometimes they can not agree as to which one is to 
have her but will quarrel and even fight over it. 

When it is finally decided the bride will move on 
again to the house of her entertainer still followed 
by the crowd. Then the musicians will stand by the 
door and ask a present of her host who will give 
them about ten cents. 

When the bride alights the crowd of children 
are on the lookout to see who is to take the horse 
back so they may have fun throwing stones at him 
on the way. In the meantime the groom has been 
waiting on the house top entertained by his com- 



42 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

rades, but now having disposed of the bride the 
musicians and the crowd will return to the groom 
whom they now escort to the house of some friend 
who is to entertain him. 

After the musicians have received their fee of 
about ten cents from his comrades the groom comes 
down from the house top. As we have mentioned 
before he is Avearing a crown because he is consider- 
ed a king just now, so his comrades have to form, 
themselves into a body guard for him in order to 
keep the crowd surrounding and following him 
from snatching his crown from his head. This they 
always try to do and when any one succeeds in cap- 
turing it the groom's comrades have to pay a small 
sum of money to the captor in order to get the crown 
back again for its owner. Having safely reached 
the home of his host the groom now takes a good 
bath. 

On this third day of the wedding they decorate 
the ceiling of the groom's house. The houses in 
Persia have one room only. They are built from 
thirty to fifty feet square and have near the center 
of the floor a circular oven four feet deep by about 
two and a half feet in diameter. This oven has no 
pipes consequently the smoke escapes into the room 
first afterwards it is drawn out through the window 
built near the center of the ceiling and kept open 
day and night. This window draws out all smoke 
and impurities from the room and constantly admits 
fresh air. But the ceiling of course get very black 
and so on wedding occasions they decorate these 
black ceilings with spots of white flour making them 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 43 

look like sections of the firmament thickly dotted 
with stars. 

About six o'clock the heralds followed by the 
musicians go out to gather in the guests who have 
come from the surrounding villages to the groom's 
home. When most of the guests are assembled they 
go in the same way to bring the bride's father and 
other relatives and friends assembled at her home. 
They give the father of the bride a seat among the 
most prominent guests and upon his enterance into 
the house they may dance before him to express to 
him their joy and respect. The groom's father 
greets him and the other guests by saying, "You are 
most welcome. By your coming you have brought 
many blessings here. Every step you have taken 
in coming here you have stepped upon my eye and 
my head." The guests will reply, "May your wed- 
ding, be a blessed one, " or "May God bless your wed- 
ding, your son and your daughter-in-law and make 
them the parents of sons and daughters. May God 
prolong your life and give you many occasions for 
rejoicing." 

If the groom's father can sing he will now sing 
for them or else he will get some one else to sing. 
Then he treats them to a glass of wine each and is 
very merry with them. But the bride's father sits 
very quiet and talks very little. Hence the saying 
when one is sitting in a company but says nothing\ 
"He sits like a bride's father." 

All present will be on their best behavior on such 
occasions for guests are gathered from surrounding 
places and each village takes pride in being known 



44 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

in the other villages for its good breeding. Should 
any one misbehave or act in any way ungentlemanly 
he is at once cast out of the house. 

Wine having been served the musicians play 
while the manager of the feast places the dishes on 
the cloth. This done silence is commanded while 
the priest says grace, then supper is served. A num- 
ber of young ladies with whom she is allowed to 
talk carry supper to the bride at the house of her 
entertainer and sit and talk quite a while with her. 
Supper is also sent to the groom because this is an 
old custom, food prepared at the house of the wed- 
ding being supposed to taste better than that cooked 
elsewhere. When supper is over the heralds and 
musicians go and conduct the groom, his best man 
and his comrades bearing the "Jumlana" to his 
home. Upon entering the groom shakes hands with 
all the guests assembled and then he and his com- 
rades sit in a group together to see who will break 
the "Jumlana" and to how much the presents will 
amount. The groom's father then says to the col- 
lector of presents, "I present the 'Jumlana' to Mr. 
." The collector presents it to the person men- 
tioned saying, "The groom's father has favored you 
with the 'Jumlana'." He thanks him and savs, "I 
will pay two dollars as present and break it," or 
else he will indicate some other guest to whom he 
will present it. In this way it may go to many of 
the guests. Whenever any offers to break it the col- 
lector makes it known to the head of the house who 
knows from the beginning whom among his guests 
he considers worthy of breaking it. When any one 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 45 

offers to break it whom he thinks worthy the honor 
he will say, u He may have it" otherwise he will say, 
"May God increase his happiness. Pass by him." 
For it was an honor only that it was presented to 
him. When a suitable person for the breaking of 
the "Junilana" is found the collector announces it 
by saying, "May God increase the happiness and 

prosperity of Mr. he has promised to give so 

much for the breaking of the "Junilana." If the 
man happens to be stingy he will take it home with 
him but if he is generous he will strike it against the 
pillar in the center of the house to break it and allow 
the eager children to pick up whatever was on it. 
The breaking of the "Jumlana" is considered quite 
an event, like the capturing of a banner from an ene- 
my's army. After the breaking of the "Jumlana" 
the collector of presents brings out one at a time 
from one to five coats. These coats have been made 
from material purchased by the groom's father and 
are now presented to the groomsman and the most 
prominent relatives or friends who are going to give 
the largest sums of money as presents on this oc- 
casion. These are brought one at a time to the 
priest and it is announced for whom it is made. The 
recipient comes forward and presents a few cents to 
the priest who thereupon recites a service over the 
coat. The favored one then takes the coat and gives 
a few cents to the musicians who play while he puts 
it on. The other coats are presented in the same 
way. The collector of presents now begins his work 
going first to the one who it is known will aive the 
most. The collector reports each amount to the 



46 ABOUT PEBSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

herald who publicly announces it by saying in a very 

clear and distinct voice, "Mr. has given so 

much. May God increase his property so that his 
place may never be vacant on such occasions." In 
this way each guest will be seen hence, it is called 
"collection of presents eve." The head of the house 
at the same time finds some one who can write and 
gets him to take down the name of each contributor 
and the amount given by him. This account is 
carefully kept when he is invited to the marriage 
of his guests' sons he will consult his list and take 
him an equal amount with a few pennies added. 
Those guests, however, who have no sons to marry 
will never get back what they give. When the col- 
lection is finished it is carefully summed up and 
turned over to the groom's father, the herald at the 
same time announcing the whole amount which 
varies from five to fifty dollars and adding, "May 
God increase the property of the friends, relatives 
and neighbors, for they have contributed very liber- 
ally. May each soon have a marriage in his own 
house. We are especially thankful to our ally who 
has given us a bride worth millions of dollars. May 
her vacant place in his home soon be filled by a 
worthy daughter-in-law." In so saying they both 
honor and comfort the bride's father who feels really 
sad on this occasion. After this a cap embroidered 
by the bride is put upon the head of the collector of 
presents or else he is given the handkerchief which 
formed the back of the "Jumlana." Then the music 
begins again which is a signal for the dispersing of 
the guests. The guests each on leaving take with 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 47 

them from one to three of the guests who have come 
from the neighboring villages to stay with them over 
night. 

The groom with his comrades go to visit the bride 
in the evening. Formerly this was very hard to do 
as her entertainer would be afraid that the groom 
might try to kiss her and thereby bring disgrace 
upon his whole household for kissing even between 
husband and wife in the presence of a family is con- 
sidered a shameful thing, while such parting scenes 
as are witnessed daily at every railway station in 
this country would not be tolerated in Persia. 
Usually the bride's host is at the home of the groom 
when this Adsit is made and her hostess and the other 
ladies in the house lock the door to keep the groom 
and his party out. In such a case they sometimes 
go up upon the house top and let him down through 
the window which is near the center of the house to 
see his bride for a few minutes. This custom, how- 
ever, is fast dying out and the more sensible one of 
exacting a promise of good behavior before admit 
ting them is taking its place. 

In entertaining a bride once when the groom 
came to visit her we required him to solemnly prom- 
ise that he would conduct himself as a gentleman 
before we opened the door for him. This he readily 
did so he and his comrades were invited in. The 
bride still dressed in her wedding costume withdrew 
to one side of the room. They came in and we all 
talked together for a few minutes after which they 
left. 

Eiding on horseback is the special privilege of a 



48 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

virgin. A widow who is going to be married is not 
allowed this honor unless she is to be married in 
another village when it will of course be necessary 
for her to ride. Should she marry in her own village 
a small company of ladies go in the evening and 
take her directly to the house of the groom. A wid- 
ower, moreover, never throws apples at his ap- 
proaching bride, but sometimes, just for fun, they 
provide him with a couple of onions which he throws 
at her. 

Sometimes it may happen that an old maid who 
could not marry in her own village is to be married 
to a man from a neighboring village. In this case 
the arrangements are the same as those already de- 
scribed. On the second or third day a big crowd 
comes for her, some riding others walking, while a 
horse is sent especially for her. If they have come 
from a distance of fifteen or twenty miles they will 
have to stay over night and the people of the village 
will entertain them, two or more in each house, very 
hospitably so that their village may be well thought 
of. The next morning the bride mounted on horse- 
back rides on through the village followed by a 
crowd of people to the village limits. It is custom- 
ary to give fowls to those who come for the bride 
consequently those who have many chickens present 
their guests upon leaving with a hen or a rooster. 
Each one receiving such a gift carries it with him 
at the same time feeling very proud of it. 

Just as such a bride is crossing the village limits 
some of the people who want to be funny take out old 
kettles that can not be used and break them after 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 49 

the bride. These useless old kettles are symbolical 
in their minds of the useless old maid. The best 
way of getting rid of the old kettles is to break them 
and their breaking them after the bride means that 
they are likewise getting rid of her. 

FOURTH DAY OF THE WEDDING CALLED BEIDE CHAM- 
BER DAY. 

In the morning of this day a regular breakfast is 
not served but a lunch instead. This lunch is also 
sent from the groom's home to every house in which 
there are guests of the wedding. Some is sent to 
the bride and some to the groom also but they must 
not eat it for it is an old custom that nothing must 
pass their lips on this day until the wedding cere- 
mony has been performed. At about eight o'clock 
in the morning of this day the heralds accompanied 
by the musicians and followed by a big noisy crowd 
of people go and bring the bride to the house of her 
father-in-law. All who failed from any cause to see 
her before try now to catch a glimpse of her, for al- 
though they are accustomed to seeing just such 
sights every vear, a new bride never fails to attract 
a great deal of attention ad to excite much curiosity 
because there are so many unusual things done on 
such occasions and each one has so much signifi- 
cance attached to it. 

The bride is again dressed in her regular wedding 
costume. She does not ride this time, however, but 
walks led by two ladies holding her hands, one on 
either side. The heralds shout "hurrah" at each 
short distance while some of the groom's relatives 



50 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

may go just in front of the bride dancing as they go. 
The groom comes at the same time with his com- 
rades who act as a guard for him so that his kingly 
crown may not be snatched off. He goes upon the 
roof of the house and stands right over the doors 
while the bride enters through it. When the bride 
reaches the door an old lady takes a little butter and 
puts it upon the top of the door casing and upon the 
threshold then she takes hold of the bride's right 
foot and placing her heel in the butter slips it in the 
same. This is done that the bride may bring many 
blessings, or herself be a great blessing in her future 
home, butter signifying blessing. At the door some- 
times a washtub is also placed under her feet for 
similar reasons. 

The groom now returns to the house of his enter- 
tainer. He has stood over the doorway as she enter- 
ed in order to keep himself from becoming burdened 
for it is seriously believed that as the bride goes 
through with the different parts of the. marriage 
ceremony marked changes take place in her, the 
first of which occurs as she is entering the house of 
her father-in-law. It is the influence or burden of 
these changes that will oppress the groom unless he 
stands high up over the doorway while they are 
taking place. Sometimes as soon as the bride has 
entered the house they take bread and crumble it 
over her head as symbols of the blessings which 
they hope may accumulate and rest upon her making 
her a blessing in the house. The same crowd that 
accompanied the bride now goes and brings the 
groom to his home after which the priest comes to 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 51 

perform the wedding ceremony. At some, though 
not at all weddings, they take seven threads of as 
many different colors, and twisting them together, 
place them upon the head of the bride as her coro- 
nation for she is upon this day considered a queen. 

At the beginning of the wedding ceremony the 
priest takes two threads, one red, the other white, 
twists them together and places them upon the 
groom's head, then he takes two shorter ones of the 
same colors, twists them in the same way and places 
them upon the bride's head. These threads are em- 
blems, the red happiness, the white of purity, and 
their being thus twisted together means that 
whereas the bride and groom were unlike as 
these two colors. They are now to become 
one flesh, as Adam said of Eve, "This is 
now bone of my bone and flesh of my 
flesh." The longer threads upon the groom's head 
mean that his hand shall be longer over the bride, 
that is that he shall exercise authority over her as 
Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesians, "Wives be 
in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the 
Lord; for the husband is the head of the wife, as 
Christ also is the head of the church, being himself 
the Saviour of the body." The priest also takes a 
little wine and water and soil from a church and 
mixes them together in a dish with a cross. The 
wine and water signifying blessing and mixing as 
they do indicate that although the bride and groom 
have heretofore been two distinct elements they will 
henceforth be united as one and become truly one 
flesh. When the priest has come to the proper place 



52 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

in the marriage ceremony he takes this mixture of 
wine, water, and soil and, having stirred it up 
thoroughly, with the cross he places the cross upon 
the head of the groom directly over the twisted 
threads at the same time giving him the mixture of 
which he drinks the greater part. Then the priest 
places the cross upon the bride's head in the same 
way while she drinks the remainder of the mixture. 
The soil that is mixed with the wine and water is a 
mournful suggestion, and means that along with all 
blessings and happiness there are found blended sor- 
rows also; that while sharing together the former 
they must also share the latter; that in the midst of 
life and happiness they must remember death, "For 
dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." 

The cross in the Nestorian church is a sign of 
victory, since salvation has been wrought for us 
through Jesus Christ upon the cross. It is also a 
banner and in this double sense is used on this oc- 
casion as the groom is on this day considered a king 
and the bride a queen. 

There are many superstitions connected with the 
marriage ceremony. For example, the priest in 
reading the marriage service says "Amen" at the 
end of each paragraph, now if any man present 
should secretly tie a knot as each "Amen" is pro- 
nounced it would cause a misfortune to the groom. 
The same thing would occur should any man go upon 
the house top during the marriage ceremony. 
Should a man buy a new knife and close it while the 
bride is riding on horseback that too would bring 
the same misfortune upon the groom, but upon the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 53 

knife's being opened the trouble will disappear. 
The same thing would happen should a man begin 
closing a new knife as the priest begins reading the 
service and shut it tightly as he finishes, or should 
he begin slowly bending a needle as the priest begins 
reading the service and stick the point of it into its 
eye as he finishes. In both cases the spell is re- 
moved as the knife is opened and the needle unbent. 

Very often it has been found that either the bride 
or the groom and sometimes, though not often the 
bridesmaid or groomsman even may have felt very 
badly for a short time during the marriage ceremony 
and this fact has led to the belief that there is really 
a virtue or influence in the marriage ceremony and 
that it is the burden of this influence that has made 
them feel badly. Immediately at the conclusion of 
the ceremony if the groom should put his foot upon 
the foot of the bride at the same time slightly press- 
ing it this burden would fall upon her, but if she is 
quick enough and thoughtful enough to do this first 
she thus places the burden upon him. 

A dish prepared by the groom's mother is now 
given the newly married couple. The priest may 
also eat a part of this dish. The bride is taken to 
one side of the room where no one may see her eat 
and there she eats in company with her maid of 
honor. The groom eats where he is. This dish is 
served them just at this point to strengthen them, 
for it should be remembered that they have eaten 
nothing this their wedding day until now and fur- 
thermore the marriage ceremony is very long last- 
ing almost two hours, so they naturally enough feel 



54 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

faint by the time it is finished. 

Although the Christians of Persia do not believe 
that marriage is a sacrament they do believe it is 
instituted by God and is very sacred and produces 
decided influence upon those entering into its holy 
bonds. 

The groom's parents now come to congratulate 
him and their daughter-in-law but it is customary 
for his comrades to require the payment to them of a 
small present before allowing it. This settled they 
offer their congratulations. They usually congratu- 
late the groom first and afterwards the bride but the 
groom's mother is apt to reverse this order of things 
in her anxiety to see the face of her new daughter- 
in-law. This she does by lifting up the veil from 
her face in such a way that no one else may see her 
face and then kissing her on each cheek. She then 
kisses the groom, the bridesmaid, and the grooms- 
man in the same way on each cheek. The father 
kisses the groom and best man and they in return 
kiss his hand, then he either kisses the bride and 
her maid of honor upon their foreheads or else he 
simply places his hand upon their heads instead of 
kissing them. A young man congratulates them 
by shaking hands with the groom and groomsman 
and kissing them, then he places his hand upon the 
bride's head and either shakes hands with the brides- 
maid or else places his hand upon her head also. 
He may wish to shake hands with the bride too but 
this he cannot do because her whole person is entire- 
ly covered and her hands are not to be seen. Any 
lady present is allowed to lift the bride's veil and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 55 

lass her and also kiss the bridesmaid but no one else 
is allowed to see her face. An old lady or a rela- 
tive of the groom or groomsman may kiss them also, 
otherwise ladies simply shake hands with them. 
An old gentleman kisses the groom and best man 
and either kisses the bride and bridesmaid upon the 
forehead or else lays his hand upon their heads. 
Some ladies imagine that girls grow beautiful as 
they are being married. Such ones come and raise 
the bride's veil and look at her face and after kissing 
her say, "She is very pretty, her eyebrows are like 
the crescent of three nights." 

In the afternoon the heralds accompanied by the 
musicians go out and conduct the guests to the 
house where the wedding is being celebrated. Then 
the relatives and friends of the groom and also those 
of the bride prepare some food which is called , 
"Bride chamber-day lunch" and bring it to the house 
of the wedding. This food is usually put into some- 
thing like saucers or sauce dishes and placed upon 
large wooden trays about four feet long by about 
one and a half feet wide, or circular brass or copper 
trays about three feet in diameter and carried by. 
young men upon their heads. Each lady who has 
prepared food accompanies the young man who 
carries it and presents it to her husband who shares 
its contents with those sitting nearest him. When 
this group have eaten all they wish, he designates 
to the waiter some other friend or respected person 
to whom he wishes to have the tray presented, 
whereupon the waiter places the tray before that 
person, who, when he and those near him have 



56 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

eaten, sends it to some one else and in this way it 
goes its round and what still remains on it is finally 
put where the other food prepared for the wedding 
is kept. The bride's people come in the same way 
Avith their lunch, and place it before their relatives 
and friends in just the same way. But custom re- 
quires that the bride's mother shall not go in corn- 
pan} 7 until forty days have expired after the wed- 
ding. It must have been some such wedding as this 
that our Lord had in mind when he said, "Can the 
sons of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom 
is with them." 

Some of the ladies who bring the bride chamber 
lunch at the same time bring as presents 
to the bride pieces of cloth two or three yards each. 
Upon entering the house they go and kiss the bride 
as has already been described and then place the 
piece of cloth upon her head. In a few minutes the 
mother-in-law comes and removes the present from 
her head and takes care of it. Trays are also pre- 
sented to the groom and his comrades. After this 
and quite early in the evening supper is served to all 
of the guests, and to those who brought lunch also. 
Supper being disposed of, the musicians play while 
the lady who taught the bride to sew opens her 
trunk which has already been brought to the father- 
in-law's house, and exhibits the presents made by 
the bride for this occasion. These, as has been 
stated before, consist of articles of clothing, orna- 
ments for the house, money purses, and caps and are 
all carefully and neatly made by hand and may have 
cost from ten to twenty dollars, that depending upon 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 5T 

the circumstances of the bride's parents. When 
these presents have all been shown and examined 
the guests say "May her face be white.' 7 

Some of these presents may be given to the 
guests on this occasion while others may be given 
them a few days after the wedding. The guests 
now disperse, some of those from the surrounding 
villages may now return home while others may 
visit longer in the village of the wedding as the 
proverb puts it, "If the manger is high guests can- 
not stay long; but if it is low they can." 

In the evening the groom gathers together all of 
his comrades and all who have done him any service 
during his wedding and gives tnem a supper after 
which this party of ladies and gentlemen join hands 
forming a circle and jumping or dancing to the 
music go round and round much as children play in 
this country. While they are thus going round and 
round some of the young men of the party may slip 
pennies into the hands of the musicians as a pres- 
ent. In case the musicians do not play for them 
two young men sing by turns as follows: — 
First young man — "I am the spikenard, the lily, and 

the rose." 

Chorus — "O sweetheart! oh! (Ey yar aman). 

Oh! Oh! (Aman, Aman). 

Kavisher, Oh! (Dilbar, Aman). 

Oh! Oh! (Aman, Aman). 

Second young man — "In this corruptible world I 

will laugh no more." Chorus: 

First young man — "If my heart would bear all these 

diseases I will die no more." Chorus: 



58 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Second young man — "Verily, verily I have offended 
the creator." Chorus: 

They keep on with this monotonous singing and 
jumping or jumping to the music for several hours 
or until quite late at night after which they take 
leave of their host and go each to his own home 
thus ending a wedding among the Christians in 
Persia. 

If during the wedding days the weather has been 
cloudy they say, "The bride has a sad countenance." 
If there has been snow or rain they say, "The bride 
has licked dishes." If it has been bright with sun- 
shine they say, "The bride has a smiling face." 

LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE. 

A bride wears her wedding costume for a week 
or longer after her marriage but she does not keep 
her face quite so closely covered as she did during 
the wedding for the customs of the country allow her 
to lift her veil a little now. She stays in the room 
in which her husband's family live but sits in a 
place apart from them. Whenever a man enters 
the house she rises, whereupon he says, "Thank 
you bride, sit down, your present upon my eye." By 
rising from her seat she means that she is ready for 
his service and he appreciating her politeness prom- 
sies her a present which of course he never means to 
give. She continues this practice for a week or two. 
At the expiration of seven days after the wedding 
the bride's mother sends her a bar of soap and a 
comb by a lady who gives her a good bath. She 
now lifts up her veil a little more and begins to do 
little services about the house, such as sweeping 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 59 

living water to the children to drink, etc., and in 
this way gradually becomes acquainted with the 
family, its methods, and routine of work. She does 
not make fires, bake bread, milk the cows or spin, 
however, for a whole year after her marriage. Her 
mother- in-law does all of that work in order to keep 
her well and cheerful and make her become attach- 
ed to her new home and its inmates and satisfied 
with her marriage. She does not go out for several 
months, and in some instances not for a whole year, 
for so does custom require of her. She does not speak 
to her father-in-law or mother-in-law except through 
a third person as for instance a little boy or a little 
girl may be the means of communication between 
herself and them. As a form of greeting persons she 
simply places her hand over her breast and bows 
before them. 

At the expiration of forty days after her mar- 
riage the bride's mother is allowed to see her. She 
in company with her husband and some other rela- 
tives go to visit the bride at this time carrying with 
them some suitable food. 

Whenever there is a wedding procession or a 
funeral procession in the village every bride is in 
structed to go upon the house top and remain there 
until the procession has passed so that she may not 
become burdened by it. 

Anions the Assvrian Christians it is customarv 
for a bride's parents to send a man to bring her 
home to visit for two or three weeks at Easter time. 
A few days after she has gone to her old home her 
husband follows her to visit there also. Upon his 



00 ' ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

arrival his father-in-law gives him a present and 
when the visit is ended he takes his bride with him 
and returns to his own home. After this she can do 
some out-door work. If a bride is good-natured and 
well-bred she will .keep on her veil, (Yashmak), and 
not speak very openly with her father-in-law and 
mother-in-law and will be highly thought of. But 
if she is ill-tempered the report will soon be circu- 
lated that she has quarrelled with her mother-in- 
law or has been fighting with her sister-in-law. Of 
course such a bride will ignore all customs and talk 
with her mother-in-law, but even such a one will 
hardly dare to speak much with her father-in-law 
for he is absolute master of the house and it would 
be a serious matter indeed to offend him. 

When a child is born to a newly married couple, 
ns is usually the case within a year or two, if it hap- 
X>ens to be a boy their joy is beyond measure and 
the young mother is greatly praised and considered 
a very fortunate woman. Should the child be a girl 
the rejoicing is not so great but they say, "That is 
all right. The next one will be a boy and it is good 
to have a daughter first to grow up to help her 
mother take care of her younger brothers and sis- 
ters." They take just as good care of the girls, how- 
ever, as they do of the boys. On the same day in 
which a child is born the mother or some other near 
relative of the child's mother cooks several eggs in 
butter and takes them to the young mother who eats 
some of them. 

The services of a physician are seldom called for 
or needed on such occasions. When a child is seven 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 61 

days old, a number of ladies come to visit the mother, 
some taking with them either a dish of food or a 
piece of cloth about two yards long. The food is 
eaten by the family. If the child were a girl they 
congratulate the parents saying, "May the foot of 
your maid be blessed, (that is may her coming into 
the world be a blessing),and may God preserve her 
to you. We hope the next one may be a boy. r 
Should the child be a boy they say, "May the foot of 
your young man be blessed. May God spare him 
to you and make him like hair that is never exhaust- 
ed but grows again when cut or pulled out. May 
God not think one son enough for you." 

The maternal grand-mother brings a cradle and 
swaddling clothes for her grand-chilli. 

When a child is born it is customary to send from 
seven to ten "kadas", a kind of pastry something 
like the pies made in this country, to the gentleman 
who acted as groomsman for the child's parents. 
One of these cakes he returns by the bearer accord- 
ing to the customs of the country while the remain- 
der are kept for his own use. The duties of this 
office of best man among the Assyrian Christians 
are much more important than those required of the 
same office in this country. He is never a blood 
relation of the groom but from the time of his be- 
coming best man until his death he is the best and 
most intimate friend of the family and is classed 
among their nearest relations. He with his wife if 
he is married or with some other female relative if 
single act as sponsors at the baptism of each child 
born to the couple whom he served as groomsman, 



62 ABOUT PERSIA AND II IS PEOPLE. 

he himself handing the child to the priest for bap- 
tism, and paying him a few pennies as a present for 
the service afterwards. He must also be present at 
every funeral in the family. At the end of the year 
of mourning and on the Easter Sunday coming with- 
in the year he must go to the bereaved home to com- 
fort them. The family whom he thus served as 
groomsman perform the same services for his family 
and that of the maid of honor. A best man and a 
maid of honor are never married to each other in 
Persia as they often are in this country. Because 
they regard themselves as if they were members of 
one family and mutually comfort each others 
families in cases of bereavement going as has al- 
ready been mentioned to comfort them at the Easter 
coming within the vear of mourning and at the end 
of the year of mourning, the ladies carrying with 
them white veils to replace the black ones worn by 
the women of the bereaved family, and speaking* 
words of comfort to the sorrowing ones. They real- 
ize that the only true comfort for a Christian is to be 
found in Christ, and so they remind them that Christ 
is indeed risen from the dead, and that He has taken 
their departed loved ones to be with him in glory. 
They say, "May God comfort your hearts and add 
to your own lives and the lives of your children the 
years of the lives of the departed ones." If it was 
the child of a young couple they will add, "May God 
keep you and yours and give you many more 
children. 

I have thus described at length bethrothals and 
marriage among my own country-men for two rea- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 63 

sons. Because they are so totally different from 
anything of the kind in this country, and because my 
people having come so slightly in contact with the 
western nations are so primitive in their thoughts 
and methods and lives, and so wholly governed by 
their prejudices and their ancient customs that they 
are even yet practically the same people among 
whom Christ's life on earth was cast, and so by un- 
derstanding; them well we can the better understand 
the setting in which we find the life of the Great 
Teacher who spake as never man spake, and can 
the better understand his frequent use of the mar- 
riage feast as an illustration to make plain some 
deeper spiritual meaning. 

Nor can I leave the subject without reminding 
each individual reader that whereas to the marriage 
just described, only the friends and relatives of the 
bridegroom's father were invited and that they 
usually belonged to one nationality and were invited 
for a few days only, there is to be another great wed- 
ding arranged by God himself. He has his heralds 
out now inviting every one who will to come. No 
matter to what nation, tribe, or tongue they belong, 
They are asked to lay aside every garment of their 
own making, such as personal merits and good 
works, and to cloth themselves in Christ's perfect 
robe of righteousness and come to this blessed mar- 
riage of the Lamb, which shall continue through 
eternity. For all who thus come there is room and' 
no one thus clad need have any fear of being cast 
out. All are welcome, "even with their whole 
families", if they are only thus prepared and once 



64 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

admitted they are blessed indeed for they thus gain 
access to all the bounties and glories and happiness 
of heaven and have the bridegroom always with 
them. So the heralds have been announcing for al- 
most two thousand years, and so shall they continue 
to announce this marriage feast and invite the 
guests until there shall not be any left to teach his" 
neighbor saying, "Know the Lord", for all shall 
know him. Then shall the heralds make their last 
announcement, the music shall be sounded, the 
guests gathered in and the doors closed. May we 
all be found among the blessed ones inside the 
father's house when the doors are to be shut. May 
we also come without being blinded by any narrow 
prejudice or bigotry that would cause us to miss the 
blessings that Christ has placed for us all along the 
way, as the following story illustrates: — Once a man 
was traveling a long distance and on his way in 
front of him he saw a bridge that he must cross 
and he said to himself, "I will see if I can not cross 
that bridge just as well with my eyes closed." So 
he closed his eyes and crossed the bridge all right, 
with them closed. After him there came another 
man who also had to cross the bridge and who found 
on it a purse of money. When the first man knew 
this he was very sorry that he had been so foolish 
as to purposely shut his eyes while crossing the 
bridge and thereby miss the money that would 

otherwise have been his. 

* * * 

MARRIAGE AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 

The Mohammedans of Persia marry very young, 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 65 

• 

sometimes even younger than the Christians, that is 
from the age of twelve years and upward. The same 
conditions that bring this about among the Chris- 
tians exist also among the Mohammedans, that is, 
the intimate acquaintance of the children in their 
childhood, the early age at which they reach their 
maturity, and the desire on the part of their parents 
to have them marry as young as possible. Some- 
times parents, as has been stated before, in order to 
perfect a friendship existing between themselves 
betroth their children while they are quite young, 
and somtimes a man may notice that a certain 
family have daughters who are good naturally, both 
capable and obedient and at the same time healthy 
and beautiful. He naturally enough wishes to se- 
cure the hand of one of these girls for one of his 
sons, and in order to make sure of this and to make 
it impossible for any other man to ever set eyes upon 
her he gets her parents to consent to having them 
bethrothed while they are yet children and when 
they are grown the marriage is consummated. 
All these motives are quite common among all the 
nationalities that live in Persia. 

After the engagement has taken place it is cus- 
tomary among the Mohammedans for the affianced 
boy and girl or their parents to choose each a rep- 
resentative who meet, or else the parents themselves 
meet, and decide what or how much money the boy 
shall pay to this intended wife, if at any time after 
they are married he may wish to put her away by 
divorce. This money is called "kaben", and the 
amount varies from ten to one thousand dollars, 



66 ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

that depending largely upon the standing financially 
of the contracting parties. The sum being fixed, 
the two representatives or the parents of the en- 
gaged couple, as the case may be, go to their priest 
and have him write two letters of documental testi- 
mony, one each for the betrothed couple, in which 
the fixed amount of "kaben" is stated. These let- 
ters, called a kaben letters", are kept by each party 
to the compact, and whenever the husband grows 
tired of his wife or dissatisfied with her he simply 
pays her the stipulated amount of "kaben" for her 
maintenance and is thereby divorced from her. 

This makes it exceedinly easy to be divorced and 
many evils result from it so that the Mohammedans 
themselves, experiencing the evil consequences of 
this lax law, try to make divorces impossible by fix- 
ing as "kaben" something that cannot be obtained. 
For example they sometimes fix upon eight or more 
pounds of mosquitoes or house-fly wings as the 
"kaben" a husband must pay his wife if he would 
divorce her. This he, of course, can not pay. 

My brother-in-law lives in a village about one 
half of whose inhabitants are Mohammedans and 
the other half are Christians. He writes that in his 
village there was a Mohammedan woman whose 
"kaben letters" required that if her husband wished 
to divorce her he must give her about thirty-two 
pounds of mosquitoes. In the course of time he be- 
gan to dislike her and intended to divorce her but 
it was impossible for him to furnish the stipulated 
"kaben". He was determined, however, to be free 
from her and so he began to mistreat and abuse her 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 67 

until she herself changed her "kaben" from thirty- 
two pounds of mosquitoes to a piece of vineyard and 
when he gave her that she was divorced. 

Sometimes instead of what has just been men- 
tioned, or a sum of money, or a vineyard, or a field, 
they will write in the "kaben letters" that if the hus- 
band would put away his wife after they are mar- 
ried he must give her an arm or a foot. This also 
being impossible to furnish, if the husband really 
wants his wife divorced he will so abuse her that she 
will be obliged to say, "Kabenem halal. Janim 
azad." Which means, "I make my 'kaben' legiti- 
mate to you. Now let my soul free." She will then 
be divorced and glad of her escape, even though she 
receives either nothing or only a small sum of 
money. 

A Mohammedan is allowed to marry four wives. 
All four marriages are legal and all four of the wives 
are considered to be on an equality with each other. 
He is expected to love them all equally well and can 
divorce any one or all of them at his pleasure. Mo- 
hammed to check the frequency of this practice de- 
creed that a wife divorced for three successive times 
should not be taken back a third time by her hus- 
band until she had been married to another maw 
and divorced by him. After that her first husband 
could marry her again. These four wives just de- 
scribed are all legal and the number of such, that a 
Mohammedan is allowed to have at any one time is 
limited to four, but there is another kind of wife 
or concubine called "seka." To the number of these 
that a man is allowed to have there is no limit. He 



68 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

is allowed to have as many of them as he wishes and 
can get. There are several causes found in their 
beliefs for these plural marriages among the Mo- 
hammedans. They believe it is a sin for any woman 
to not be under the law of marriage, and according 
to their religion man is regarded so vastly superior 
to woman that it is perfectly proper for him to rule 
over many of them; and dominant over these rea- 
sons, whether they recognize it or not, is, no doubt 
the natural depravity of human nature, making laws 
both in morals and in religion to suit its inclinations 
and fitting its beliefs to its desires. 

After these "kaben letters" have been written and 
sealed by the priest a few days are allowed to pass 
before the parents of the two contracting meet to 
decide upon the amount of money to be furnished 
by the bridegroom's father for the purchase of 
clothes, "Parcha", for the bride and to appoint a 
day for the beginning of the wedding. All this ar- 
ranged both parties go to a city where the bride's 
mother, at the expense of the bridegroom's father 
buys as much clothing as she can for the bride. The 
reason the bride's parents have for buying as much 
as possible for their daughter is that they, or par- 
ticularly the mother, feels that her daughter is now 
going to a strange place to live among strangers and 
that if she should need more clothing in a short time 
after her marriage she would be too bashful to ask 
for it. So her mother, now that she has the oppor- 
tunity, provides her with enough to make her feel 
happy at the thought of her mariage and to last 
until she becomes sufficiently acquainted in her new 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 69 

home to ask for what she needs. After this the 
bride is busy making her wedding clothes, or 
"Parcha." Sometimes she calls in her friends to as- 
sist her and at the end of two weeks every thing is 
ready. About two or three days before the ap- 
pointed day of the wedding the bridegroom's father 
sends out his heralds to the surounding villages and 
towns to invite his relatives and friends to come to 
the wedding. 

It is customary among the Mohammedans to pro- 
vide the heralds with apples, roses, cloves, and other 
aromatic things. When they are going to invite a per 
son they first present him with an apple or a clove, 
and then extend him greetings from the bridgroom's 
father with much flattery and many -embellishments 
ending with the statement that he sends his love 
and asks you to come to the wedding. To this he 
may reply, "Allah mubaraklasen", which means 
u God bless it, we will try to come." Should the 
bridegroom's father invite any one who is of higher 
rank himself such as an official dignitary he would 
not send heralds to such a one but he would go him- 
self carrying with him a present suited to his rank. 
This he would present to him and in a dignified and 
appropriate manner invite him to the wedding. 
This person of higher rank may then in turn send 
him a present worth many times more than the one 
he received and in addition may send a couple of 
musicians to the wedding to play in his honor. 

MAKRIAGES AMONG THE HIGHER CLASSES OF MOHAMMEDANS. 

We will first describe weddings as they are con- 



70 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ducted among the higher and wealthier classes of 
Mohammedans and afterwards those among the 
common people, though in many respects they are 
alike. Here we will speak only of the differences 
peculiar to the higher classes. 

Among the higher classes of Mohammedans who 
live in cities and are very wealthy, sometimes the 
weddings continue even over an entire week. They 
have such long weddings because they are rich and 
in order to add to their reputation of wealth and 
superiority. Several male cooks are employed and 
every one who is invited attends the wedding every 
day during the whole time, and all are provided with 
good substantial meals, consisting mainly of rice 
and meats. Several couples of musicians are hired 
for the entertainment of the guests. Also some 
Gypsies to dance and a number of jugglers of su- 
perior skill who make sport and amusement for the 
crowd by their tricks of extraordinary dexterity. 
Some story-tellers, singers, and players on different 
kinds of musical instruments are also employed for 
the occasion. Sometimes prominent wrestlers are 
also secured. At the time appointed for the wrest- 
ling match to take place crowds of people flock ro 
the place from e\ery direction. The mucicians play 
exciting tunes while the wrestling continues. Some- 
times they are a very even match and continue 
wrestling a long time before one of them succeeds in 
throwing the other. Again it may happen that in 
only a few minutes one may throw the other where- 
upon the victorious one receives the prize previously 
provided by the groom's father. 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE, 



71 



These performances are all arranged as a kind 
of program for each day and are given at some place 
where everyone has the privilege of coming to see 




MOHAMMEDAN WRESTLERS. 

From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. V.) 

and hear them. In the evenings they have a display 
of fireworks for the enjoyment of the crowd. Some- 
times in the evening after the guests have had sup- 
per they will select one of their number who is elo- 
quent and witty and elect him as president, "beek", 
and another they elect as head -servant, "parash 
bashi", to execute the orders of the president who 
is invested with full authority to punish, fine, or 
flog any one that is present. He may command the 



72 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

head servant to bring into his presence a certain 
man, then to ask him what his occupation is and all 
about his circumstances. All this being reported 
to the president, he tries to entangle the man, then 
holds him guilty and commands the head servant 
to make him dance. If he can dance he does so> 
otherwise he will be fined or punished. The fine is, 
of course, only nominal and is seldom really exacted. 
In this way, and by a thousand other tricks, that 
they play on the bridegroom's relatives they increase 
the mirth of the wedding festivities. 

On such occasions the women do not appear 
among the crowds of men to see the performances. 
Usually they cover themselves and go up upon the 
house tops to see the out door exercises. 

At weddings Mohammedan ladies and gentlemen 
never mingle together but have separate apart- 
ments, one for the men and another for the women. 
No man is allowed to enter ladies' apartments ex- 
cept the musicians, most of whom are Christians. 
They are allowed to enter partly because they know 
that Christians are faithful and pure and can be 
trusted and partly because they have so little regard 
for musicians, whether Christian or Mohammedan, 
that it is not considered a shame for women to dance 
before them as it would certainlv be to dance before 
other men. 

Even when the wedding continues for more than 
a week the bride is usually brought to the house of 
her father-in-law on the fourth day. No mater if 
the bride and groom do live in the same city and no 
matter how close together their houses are the bride 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 73 

must still ride on horseback in going there because 
it is customary to do so. 

About the time the bride is going to ride on 
horseback the streets and house tops are thronged 
with noisy expectant spectators while the firing of 
guns and pistols and the notes of exciting music 
fills the air. For this reason a very gentle horse is 
secured for the bride, one that will not become 
frightened at all this noisy tumult. In the after- 
noon of this fourth day all the musicians and a 
crowd of people some mounted on horseback, others 
walking, forming a large procession slowly proceed 
to the bride's home where they are welcomed upoD 
their arrival by a volley from the guns and pistols 
A little feast is now had' at the bride's home while 
the bride herself is in another apartment with all of 
her female companions. These lady friends dress 
her in an elegant new bridal costume and cover her 
with two large square veils called respectively,, 
"Charkat" and "Turma." Charkat is a scarlet veil 
which covers her entire body except a small space 
in front which is covered by a beautiful thin white 
silken veil called "Turma." Those who see her thus 
covered may suppose that she cannot see at all but 
that is not so for she can see quite well through the 
thin silk veil that covers her face. No one can see 
any part of her except her feet and when she ap- 
pears on horseback it is simply as a graceful red 
figure. At this time the streets and house tops are 
crowded with joyful spectators. When the bride 
is ready the musicians play a sorrowful tune while 
she bids farewell to her parents who kiss her and 



74 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

pronounce their benediction upon her and then weep 
after her as she is taken and put upon horseback. As 
soon as she is mounted the musicians change their 
tune from a doleful to a happy one while another 
volley from the guns and pistols pierces the air. 
Her father-in-law throws a handful of copper money 
upon her head to show his wealth and liberality. 
It is customary among the Mohammedans to send a 
lady called "Yedak" along with the bride to take 
care of her. 

The bride's belongings and gifts from home are 
packed in a trunk and carried by a man on his back 
after her. A head groom, "Jelodar" holds the 
horse's bridle. 

Some cousins of the bride and groom or else some 
of their faithful servants accompany her on the 
way to take care of her and to see that no harm be- 
falls her. One man holds a mirror toward her face 
on the way, w T hich means may her way through life 
be bright. 

In this way the procession moves on toward the 
groom's home, while the way is crowded and the 
house tops are covered with people. Some of them 
throw candy, and others throw raisins upon the 
bride's head as she passes to express their wish that 
she may be very sweet. 

The Mohammedan bridegroom does not go upon 
a house top to throw apples at his approaching bride 
as the Assyrian Christians do. But instead, 
while the bride is coming he and his com- 
rades mounted on horse back go to meet her. 
When they have approached to within a stone's 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 75 

throw of her the groom kisses an apple and throws 
it upon his bride or sometimes he may ride up and 
put the apple into her hand. Immediately after 
doing this the groom and his party quickly turn and 
ride away as fast as they can. They are pursued by 
some of the horsemen of the bride's party who try to 
catch the groom. Should any one succeed in doing 
this he would receive a present in keeping with the 
rank and circumstances of the bridegroom. In some 
places the groom stands in front of the door or on a 
balcony and when the bride has approached suf- 
ficiently near he throws an apple upon her. 

After this the bride is taken to an apartment 
prepared for her. During this fourth evening of the 
wedding the bridegroom's father may- receive some 
presents from his friends. The feasting continues 
through several more days and at the end of the pre- 
viously fixed time the wedding is considered ended 
and everything is quiet again. 

MARRIAGE AMONG THE COMMON MOHAMMEDAN PEOPLE. 

Among the common people the duration of the 
wedding differs according to the different financial 
circumstances of the contracting parties. If a man 
is poor, his wedding may occupy one day only. If 
he is in moderate circumstances his wedding may 
continue through two or three days and if his cir- 
cumstances are good, through four days. Weddings 
occupying four days are most common, however, 
among all the different nationalities that live m 
Persia and are considered most complete. 

If a young man marries a girl who lives in an- 



76 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

other village about twenty- five miles distant, and if 
his wedding should occupy four days, then he gives 
meals once or twice a day to all who have come to 
his wedding and on the third night small sums of 
money are given as has already been told in our ac- 
count of marriages among the Assyrian Christians. 

The purchasing of the bride's wardrobe and the 
inviting of friends and relatives are the same as 
among the higher classes of Mohammedans. 

On the second day of the wedding a party of 
from twenty to forty young people and a few ex- 
perienced old men set out to bring the bride whose 
home we will suppose is twenty-five miles distant. 
Those who have horses ride, while those who have 
none, walk. Toward evening the bride's people ex- 
pect them and upon their arrival in the village, 
music is sounded and the bride's relatives and 
friends meet them and exchange greetings, then all 
go to the bride's home. At this time the young peo- 
ple sometimes dance and attract the village people 
around them and make it look as though there were 
a wedding in the village. 

Of course when the bride's home is twenty-five 
miles away from that of the groom this party will 
have to stay over night because it would be too late 
to return the same day. Many of the village people 
who are already invited will now come to the bride's 
home and after having had supper take with them 
each family, one or two strangers, and entertain 
them over night. The next morning all again 
gather at the bride's home and have breakfast The 
bride is then dressed in her wedding costume and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 77 

having bade farewell to her parents, as has already 
been described, is taken out and put upon the horse 
brought for her. 

Crowds gather around and follow her to the vil- 
lage limits. Chickens called bridegroom's birds are 
given to some of the young people of the party as 
among the Assyrian Christians. These fowls sym- 
bolize fondness. 

The headgroom "Jelobdar" and the lady "Yedak" 
accompany the bride. On this way homeward the 
people of each village or town through which they 
pass will be found collected together in the streets 
and on the house-tops to enjoy the passing of the 
procession exclaiming as they pass "Mubarok, mu- 
barok," Be blessed, be blessed." 

Sometimes a poor man in order to get a present 
from the bride's father-in-law as they pass through 
his village will take a sheep and place it before the 
bride's horse pretending that he has brought a sac- 
rifice to offer to the bride. Her father-in-law, un- 
derstanding the situation gives him a few pennies 
whereupon he takes this sacrificial sheep and goes 
his way. In the same manner a musician some- 
times takes his instrument and placing himself in 
front of the bride's horse begins playing and sing- 
ing with great enthusiasm as though he were paying- 
homage to the bride. He too receives some money 
and then goes his way. 

Perhaps in another village the bride's horse may 
be stopped by a wrestler who standing in front of it 
says, "I will wrestle with any one of you who thinks 
he is strong enough. If he can throw me you may 



78 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

go in peace, but if I throw him then you must pay 
me some money." If there is any one in the party 
who thinks himself strong enough and dares do it 
they have a wrestling match right there, if not the 
bride's father-in-law gives him a few cents and that 
settles the matter. ' 

After they have passed through all the villages on 
the way one of the mounted men, called for this ser- 
ice "the bridegroom's hat bearer", speeds his horse 
forward at a rapid gait in order to reach the village 
considerably in adance of the rest of the party. Up- 
on his arrival he announces in a loud voice to the 
anxiously waiting bridegroom and those that are re- 
joicing with him the joyful tidings that all has gone 
well and the bride will soon be there. A shawl is 
then put around the neck of his horse as a symbol 
of intrepidity. The bridegroom and his comrades 
now get ready to go and meet the bride. Occasion- 
ally the groom and his comrades walk to meet the 
bride, but that is exceptional, as a rule mounted up- 
on horseback they ride to meet her and the groom 
either going close enough puts a red apple into her 
hand or else he kisses it and throws it at her, turning 
quickly afterward and riding away as fast as he can 
because it is quite a common thing among villagers 
to stone the bridegroom after he has thrown the 
apple. The bride is now taken to an apartment ac- 
companied by the lady "Yedak." From ten to twen- 
ty of the young people standing in the groom's yard 
or in the middle of the street in front of his house 
join hands forming a semi-circle while the man at 
the head of the line takes a handkerchief or two in 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 79 

his hand. The music starts up and they all dance 
to the music, slow or fast as the music goes, while 
the head man waves his handkerchiefs in the air 
and leads them in a circle. During this perform- 
ance the head man or some of the other men who are 
dancing occasionally slip a penny or two into the 
hands of the musicians whereupon they exclaim in 

a loud voice, "Mr. has given us a dollar, or a 

large sum of money. May God bless him and in- 
crease his happiness and his property!" As the mu- 
sicians and the men dancing become excited they 
move very rapidly attracting around them all the 
people of the village. The position of head man is 
considered quite a distinction because all follow 
him and so it sometimes happens that others become 
jealous of him and try to take his place. This goes 
so far at times that it even results in fights for the 
honor of being head man. 

In the evening of this day supper is served after 
which each one gives his- present in money just as 
among the Assyrian Christians. The wedding thus 
ended everything is again quiet. 

Among the Mohammedans it is customary to try 
if possible to have the bride and groom meet on Fri- 
day night, since Friday is to them what Sunday is 
to Christians. The lady "Yedak" is present at this 
time. If the bride is found to be a true virgin and 
to have violated none of the laws of maidenly chas- 
tity there is great rejoicing over the fact. But if the 
reverse is found true of her she is covered with a 
dirty carpet and, followed by a crowd of people danc- 
ing as they go, is taken back in disgrace to her 



80 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

father's house. 

A bride is not allowed to speak with her mother- 
in-law or father-in-law or any member of the family 
who is older than herself and very little with their 
neighbors. Neither she nor her husband ever ad- 
dress each other, except when quite alone, by their 
names. Nor do they ever speak of each other in that 
way but use the personal pronoun instead, as "he" 
and "she." 

At home a bride must have her head covered with 
a veil about two square yards. One end of which 
covers her mouth close up to the nose and is called 
"yashmak." When she goes out her entire person 
must be covered. 

If asked anything by her father-in-law or mother- 
in-law she must answer them either by signs or else 
if her husband or a small child is present she may 
speak to them and they repeat her answer to the per- 
son who asked the question. Neither is she allowed 
to eat with her father-in-law or mother-in-law but 
must serve them as a waiter, not that they regard 
her as a slave but because the customs of the coun- 
try require it. When they have finished eating she 
will eat either alone or with some of the younger 
members of the family. She is also allowed to eat 
with her husband. In this way every bride must live 
for a few years, after which she becomes more famil- 
iar and is allowed to talk with a good many persons 
with whom conversation was forbidden before. 
After several years she may even speak with her 
mother-in-law but never with her father-in-law. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 81 

SOCIAL LIFE IN GENERAL. 

MAGICAL ARTS, WITCHCRAFT, AND SORCERY. 

To the superstitions connected with marriages 
and engagements among all the nationalities and 
sects that live in Persia and particularly among the 
Mohammedans there is no end. 

Should it happen that a husband does not love 
his wife, then either she or her mother will go to a 
magician who will write her a prescription and tell 
her in what part of her clothes to sew it. Also one 
for her husband which she must secretly sew in his 
clothes and this will make him love her. Or else 
lie may tell her to cut some hairs from her head and 
-a few from her husband's head and "having burnt 
them together put the ashes into a little water and 
liave her husband drink it and that will make him 
love her. Of course they do different things for dif- 
ferent persons and the magicians do not all work 
the same spells. 

For example, a magician may write a prescrip- 
tion for a woman whose husband does not love her 
and tell her to put it under the hinge of the door of 
their house and as much as the door is opened and 
shut so much will her husband's love grow toward 
her. 

Another magician may write some magical 
words upon an egg which of course contains vital 
energy. This spell lasts for forty days but after 
that it must be renewed again. * 

Another may write some magical words upon a 
nail which the lady is instructed to place close to 



82 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

the stove or oven wbere it may become heated. Just 
as the nail grows hot in the same proportion does 
her husband's love grow warm toward her. This 
spell is considered very good and lasts for a whole 
year. Magicians are in great demand for in cases of 
sickness also the people apply to them as they do to 
doctors in this country. 

In cases of sterlity women also apply to the ma- 
gicians who in such cases fill a copper bowl with 
water and build a small fire. The magician then re- 
quires the lady to sit close to this while he takes a 
large sheet and covers himself and her, while the 
smoke fills the space. He now utters some incanta- 
tion in the Arabic language which means that he is 
calling out the devils. The lady now looks upon the 
water which by some extraordianry spell he makes 
to move in the bowl. This the lady sees and at the 
same time he rubs together some needles that he 
has with him or some thing else that produces a 
chirping sound like a bird. This the lady hears and 
verily believes that devils are now present. After 
this he writes a prescription and instructs her what 
to do with it and tells her that sometime in the 
future she will dream that she sees a man coming 
to her and giving her a red apple. That is to pre- 
sage the birth of a child. In order to make her 
doubly sure that this is to take place he tells her 
that she will find a birthmark upon the face or some 
other part of its body. She returns home expecting 
that year and next and the next and so on to become 
the mother of a child, but of course never does. 
When a child is born to a bride they stick needles 



ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 83 

in her clothes and let them remain there for forty 
days so that no demons may approach or touch her. 
Should the child get sick or feel badly they suppose 
that an evil eye has beaten him. Should they sus- 
pect any person who is supposed to have an evil eye 
they will try secretly to get a small piece from his 
clothing and burn it under the child. In so doing 
the evil eye is supposed to be put out. 

Formerly when a child was born they would not 
carry with them a coin or piece of gold because that 
would make the child become sallow. 

When the children of a family become fretful 
they suppoe that an evil eye has touched them. 
Then they take a little piece of dough and cast it into 
the oven. As it swells and bursts' they think the 
evil eye is put out. 

In the clothing of Mohammedan children can be 
found various prescriptions which are bound in a 
triangular form. On them are written some words 
from the Koran or from some other magical books. 
These are supposed to protect the children from bad 
spirits and other dangers. 

Around the necks of children beautifully polish- 
ed agate stones are suspended with different things 
engraved upon them such as; "There is no god but 
God", or "There is no god but God and Mohammed 
is his prophet", or the names of the grandsons of Mo- 
ahmmed, "Hassen and Hussein." Some old people 
even carry such amulets with them because they be- 
lieve that any thing on which is written the name 
of God or that of Imams has wonderful portecting 
power against all great calamities. 



84 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

They do not keep records of the births of their 
children consequently there are millions of Persians 
who do not know how old they are. Should par- 
ents be asked their children's ages some of them who 
have wonderfully good memories may be able to tell 
the exact age but others will mention certain noted 
events that took place either in the same year in 
which their child was born or several years before 
or after he was born. Now they are beginning to 
keep such records, however, because many of them 
can read now, formerly this was not the case. 

CITIES, WALLS, AND GATES. 

The custom among Asiatic people of building 
walls and gates to their cities is as old as their civ- 
ilization. They stand in the bible as prominently 
as Mount Zion. They were the protection of ancient 
cities even as they are in this day. They are looked 
upon with much veneration and their strong walls 
give much comfort to the inhabitants. Hence 
Isaiah uses the expression, "Thou shalt call thy 
walls Salvation and thy gates Praise." In the twen 
ty-first chapter of Revelations the walls of the New 
Jerusalem adorned with all manner of precious 
stones and the twelve gates are spoken of. David 
addresses them saying, "Lift up your heads O ye 
gates: And be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors: 
And the King of glory shall come in." 

Most of the cities of Persia are surrounded by 
high mud walls so that no one may enter except 
through a gate. There are several gates for each 
city and each gate has a special name. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



85 



The walls are built from twenty to twenty-five 
feet high. Cities are built principally of sundried 
brick and mud. Very few of them are built of burn- 
ed brick, while wooden houses are unknown in most 
parts of Persia. 




A GATE OF THE CAPITAL CITY, TEHERAN. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

The best and most majestic view one gets of east- 
ern cities is upon approaching them when the gates 
are seen with their colored tiles and their pillars 
beautifully ornamented with color and built high 
above the common top of the gates and the domes, 
minarets and steeples of the Mohammedan mosques 
or temples inside the enclosure of the city. At each 
side of the gates small towers are built with small 
windows or openings in them. In times of danger 
soldiers or gate-keepers sit in these towers and 



86 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

watch the enemy and fire upon them if they ap- 
proach too near. 

By the side of the gates there are sometimes 
rooms for the storing of arms belonging to the gate- 
keepers. There are also places for the latter to sit. 
During the day city gates are kept open and very 
often people congregate there to enjoy themselves, 
because it is cool there in summer, and to see the 
people coming in and going out of the city. Some- 
times the gates are crowded with people who as- 
semble there for the transaction of public affairs or 
out of curiosity to see a parade, or a procession, or 
the punishment of a criminal, or to hear a proclama- 
tion. 

The gates of cities are kept open until ten o'clock 
in the evenings. At that time they are shut and 
locked so that no one can enter into the city and no 
one can go out of it. The law requires that after 
ten or eleven o'clock in the evening every one must 
lock his door and sit in his own house and not go 
out, while the policemen with their dogs walk the 
streets all night. If they find any one on the streets 
after the appointed time, he is promptly arrested 
Should he try to escape the policeman will set a dog 
upon him and in this way catch him. When anyone 
is arrested the policeman will ask him if he knows 
the password for that night, which can always be 
obtained at the police station during the day. If he 
knows the password the policeman will let him go, 
if not, he will keep him and maltreat him until the 
next morning. If the policeman finds out that he is 
a good man he will accept a present from him and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



87 



let him go, but if he is a bad man such as a thief, the 
policeman will abuse him in order to exact a present 
from him, and on the next morning will punish him 
and let him go. In this way order is kept in their 



cities during the nights. 



Most of the city streets are crooked and too nar- 
row to admit a carriage. The business part of cities 




SPICE SELLER 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 



is built of burned or red brick and consists of rows 
of arched corridors with stores opposite each other, 
the space between them being about fifteen or twen- 
ty feet. There is only from about three to five feet 



88 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

between those on the same side. So when one 
goes to buy anything he is called to by shop-keepers 
on either side of him. When shop-keepers have no 
customers they sit each one in front of his own store 
and talk together. 

In the picture can be seen how a spice-seller sits 
with all his wares before him. When a customer 
comes to buy any thing he simply reaches out his 
hand and gets whatever his customer wants without 
rising from his seat. He seldom gets up to get any- 
thing. 

Every trade has its own quarters, for instance 
one quarter is for dry goods, one for shoes, one for 
groceries, one for grain, one for blacksmithing, etc. 

As one walks in the streets of a city he sees only 
dry mud walls with no window T s facing the streets 
and all of the same color. In these mud w^alls ugly 
cracks are formed in drying to which a Persian poet 
has compared laughing lips saying, "laughing lips 
are like cracks in the walls." In the cracks of these 
high w r alls sparrows build their nests and children 
are often seen climbing up ladders and capturing 
the young sparrows from their nests. Sparrows are 
considered magical food. 

As the houses in this country are surrounded by 
fences, so the houses in Persia are surrounded by 
mud walls from ten to fifteen feet high, so that peo- 
ple in the streets can not see into their outer court 
or yard. 

Since so few of the people can read there is very 
little demand for newspapers. There is one weekly y 
however, published in the capital city, Teheran. 



ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 89 

Whenever an edict is issued by the governor or the 
Shah some men having very strong voices are em- 
ployed, the edict is put into one or two short sen- 
tences and these men are sent out to proclaim it in 
the different quarters of the city and sometimes at 
the gates. They proclaim the edict in a very clear 
loud and distinct voice so that every one may hear it. 

They also do the same thing when they have 
.property lost. For instance if a Mohammedan 
should lose a black donkey, then he would employ 
such a man who goes through the streets crying as 
loud as he can, "Two dollars reward to any one who 
has found a black donkey!" He continues in this 
way until the lost donkey is found. 

Any thing like the waterworks to be seen in this 
country are unknown in Persia. There water is led 
from the rivers through small canals running 
through each yard in the city, and in the center of 
each yard there is a small pool for the family's use, 
in which they wash their hands and faces and even 
feet when necessary, also clothing, etc., thus making 
the water quite dirty. For such purposes cold 
water is used and little or no soap. Those who hap- 
pen to live near the source from which this water 
is taken have comparatively clean water for such 
uses but the further away they live the worse the 
water becomes. For drinking and household uses 
they have especial places where pure clean water 
may be had. 

In large cities there are people who like to have 
their daily supply of water furnished regularly and 
without any trouble to themselves. Such persons 



90 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



employ water carriers like the accompanying illus- 
tration. The water carrier has a bottle made of skin 
on his back. This he fills through the opening 




WATER-CARRIER. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

w^here he holds his hand. He probably has several 
customers to whom he furnishes so many bottles or 
skins of water every day. Having fulfilled his con- 
tract each day he again fills his bottle of skin and 
goes through the streets crying, "Who wants water? 
Who wants water?" Then those who need water 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 91 

call him in. Possibly they want only half a bottle 
of water, in such a case he slowly loosens his hold 
on the neck of the bottle and allows the water to 
gently flow out until the bottle is half empty, then 
he tightens his grasp and the water stops. For half 
a bottle of water he may receive one cent, for a 
whole bottle, two cents. 

These bottles of skin are mentioned in the bible 
over twenty-five times. For example, Gen. xxi-14, 
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took 
bread and a bottle of water and gave it unto Hagar 
putting it upon her shoulder, and the child, and sent 
her away." 

I Sam. xxv-18. "Then Abigail made haste and 
took two hundred loaves and two bottles of wine." 

Judges iv-19. "And he said unto her, (Sisera to 
Jael), give me I pray thee a little water to drink for 
I am thirsty; and she opened a bottle of milk and 
gave him drink." 

Matthew ix-17. "New wine into new bottles." 
Ps. Lvi-8. "Put thou my tears into thy bottles." 
Thus we see that bottles of skin were in use four 
thousand years ago and they are still using them in 
Persia for the same purposes for which they were 
then used. They fill them w T ith water, wine, milk, 
butter, cheese, and honey. They are especially ser- 
viceable to the nomadic tribes who live in the stony 
mountainous regions and move from place to place. 
They load their furniture on the backs of animals 
and the bottles of skin are particularly convenient 
at such times because they are not easily broken. 



92 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

HOUSES. 

The wealthy people of Persia who live in the 
cities have elegant palaces containing different 
apartments for harems and for servants. 

But the houses in general for the masses are 
built of mud and consist of one room only, from thir- 
ty to forty feet square, and have a door in one end. 

They build their houses in this way. They first 
dig a foundation. Then they dig up earth and put 
water in it thus making mud. Then the laborers take 
off their shoes and stockings and roll up their 
trousers above their knees and get into this mud 
and tramp it with their feet, turning it about twice 
as they do so. By this time it will be all right and 
will stick together very nicely. They then build a 
wall of this about four feet high and from three to 
four feet thick. It will require four or five days for 
this to dry. When it is dry they build about as 
much more on top of it and continue in this way 
until it is the desired height. Of course such houses 
never burn down as houses do in this country and the 
walls of some of them will last from fifty to seventy 
years. When the walls are ready they cover the 
house by putting first a long heavy beam across the 
center of it, the ends resting upon the walls while 
it is supported in the center of the house by one or 
two pillars, Timbers about eight inches in thick- 
ness are now placed from this beam or sill to the 
Avail on either side. These are something like joists 
and are placed about two feet apart. Upon these 
joists are placed pieces of wood something like laths, 
about two inches in thickness and two feet Ions 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 93 

Over all this first reeds and then grass are placed 
and afterwards mud about six inches thick is put 
over the whole. The mud they carry up on their 
backs and then tramp it down thoroughly with their 
feet in order to make it stick well and become 
smooth. Upon this mud they plaster with the 
best kind of clay mixed with very fine straw chaff to 
keep it from cracking. Roofs are made almost flat 
but sloping slightly toward on side in order to make 
the water run off when it rains. This is conducted 
off by means of a spout. Once every year or two they 
replaster the roof. On some of them different kinds 
of green grasses grow during the rainy season in the 
spring and then they look very beautiful but the 
summer heat soon comes and withers them prema- 
turely. Hence David finds this expression to use 
against those that hate Zion; "Let them be as the 
grass upon the house tops which withereth afore it 
groweth up." Ps. cxxix-6. 

Thieves very often come in the night and dig 
holes through these mud walls, and come in and 
steal. For breaking through they use wooden ham- 
mers and iron chisels mounted upon wooden han- 
dles. Upon the handle of the chisel they fasten a 
piece of felt to keep it from making any noise to 
waken the owner of the house while they are strik 
ing it with the hammer. It is to this effect that our 
Lord says, "But know this, that if the good man of 
the house had known in what watch the thief would 
come, he would have watched, and would not have 
suffered his house to be broken up." (Or digged 
through). Math, xxiv-43. 



94 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

The walls on the inside of the houses are plaster- 
ed over with clay also, mixed with as much straw 
chaff as is necessary to make it bind or stick to- 
gether well in order to make it durable and to pre- 
vent cracks on the inside of the wall. 

The floors are simply hard clean smooth earth 
floors. One half of the floor is covered with a kind 
of reed matting over which carpets are spread. 
When one enters a house he takes off his shoes on the 
earth floor, then steps upon the carpeted part and 
sits down with his feet under him. In this country 
people take off their hats when they enter a house 
but in Asiatic countries they take off their shoes in- 
stead. 

They have an especially constructed wooden 
frame upon which they hang their bed-clothes dur- 
ing each day. At night they take them down and 
make their beds and in the morning hang them on 
the frame again. 

A Persian stove or oven looks like a cylinder. It 
is built of clay and is about four feet deep by two 
and a half feet in diameter. It is built in the ground 
near the center of the house, the top of it being on a 
level with the floor. They make fire in it only once 
a day and at that time they do thier cooking and 
baking. In most parts of Asia wood is very scarce 
so their principal fuel is dried manure. This is used 
for fuel only and the ashes from it are put upon the 
fields afterwards for fertilizers. There are no pipes 
to carry out the smoke, hence it comes first into the 
house and afterwards escapes through the window 
in the ceiling directly over the oven. The smoke 



ABOUT PEPSI A AND ITS PEOPLE. 



95 



smells while they are making fires but in a short 
time after the fire begins to burn well, it together 
with all other impurities in the house are drawn out 
through the window which is open day and night. 
The houses are thus thoroughly ventilated all the 
time and they have plenty of pleasant fresh air to 
breath although the ceilings grow quite dark of 
course. They make big hot fires in these ovens so 
that the sides of the oven grow to a white heat while 
the coals of fire still remain at the bottom. 




WOMEN BAKING BREAD- 



They make bread with yeast which they keep on 
hands for the purpose, and having kneaded it they 
set it aside to rise just as peonle do in this country. 



06 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Afterwards they make it out into small balls about 
as large as ordinary biscuits. 

The lady seen at the right of the picture has a roll- 
ing-pin in her hand. She takes these balls of dough 
one at a time and placing them on a bread-board 
rolls them out as thin as blotting paper. As she 
finishes each one the lady at the left of the picture 
takes it and spreading it over something made for 
that purpose puts it down into the oven as far as her 
elbow and somtimes the whole length of her arm 
then slaps it against the side of the oven which is 
quite hot. The dough adheres to this and is quick 
ly baked. It is removed as soon as it is baked and 
more put in its place. In this way they keep on 
until the baking is all done. For large families they 
usually bake every day or every other day while 
some bake only once or twice a week. The cakes of 
bread when finished are about a foot and a half or 
two feet long by one foot wide. 

During the winter they spread carpets or mat- 
tings around the oven, then having taken off their 
shoes on the earthen floor they sit around it and 
warm themselves. Or else they place a square table 
over it and spread a carpet or large quilt over this 
to keep the heat in and then sit, a whole large family 
half under it quite cosily. The coals of fire remain 
at the bottom of the oven all day, sometimes all 
night even, because manure as fuel holds fire for a 
much longer time than wood or coal even. 

The window which they always have near the 
center of the ceiling of their houses besides admit- 
ting light and ventilating the houses serves for many 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



9T 



odd purposes. 

When it rains they have to place a pan under the 
window for the water falls directly into the house 




FAMILY WARMING THEMSELVES- 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

through the window which always stands open day 
and night. It may have been from such houses that 
some of the Old Testament writers have taken the 
figure of God's opening the windows of heaven to 
send rain upon the earth. 

Since the houses are close together and their tops 
are flat people often go upon their neighbors' houses 
and speak to them through the window. When 
thieves come to a house if the owner of it has a good 
well-trained dog it will go at once upon the house 



98 ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

top and bark through the window to waken the 
family. Sometimes a dog may become so excited in 
its efforts to arouse the family that it may come too 
close and fall right into the house through the win- 
dow. 

Some meddlesome persons who like too well to 
know their neighbors' business sometimes steal 
softly upon the house top and sitting close by the 
window listen to the private conversation of the 
family circle beneath. 

When a hen crows it is considered to be either a 
good or a bad omen and in order to find out which 
kind of an omen it is they take the crowing hen upon 
the house top and blind-folding her they drop her 
down through the window into the house. If she 
goes toward the corner of the house it is a good 
omen, but if she goes toward the door it is a bad one 
and they kill her at once. 

Swallows make their nests during the summer in 
these windows and sit there and sing. Late in the 
fall they migrate to Arabia, returning again every 
spring. It used to be believed that the swallows 
knew where the tomb of Moses was and that on their 
return from Arabia they brought with them a little 
dust from it for the foundation of their nests. The 
people are very kind to the swallows and allow them 
to build their nests inside of their buildings because 
they are such good harmless birds. Their nests are 
often fund in Mohammedan temples and Christian 
churches while sparrows as a rule build outside in 
the cracks of the mud walls. David speaks of both 
in his eighty-fourth psalm; "Yea, the sparrow hath 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 99 

found her a house, and the swallow a nest for her- 
self where she may lay her young. Even thine al- 
tars O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God!" 

Some years ago the most important service the 
window did was in cases of theft. For instance, if 
a man had from ten to twenty dollars stolen from 
him and he was sure that some one of his neighbors 
had taken it, then everybody would be talking about 
it and different ones would be suspected but no 
one could be absolutely sure who took it. Now in 
order to have justice done easily and to keep the 
case from going into court thus injuring the repu- 
tation of the good along with the bad the whole com- 
munity would agree that upon a certain evening when 
it was dark they would all go upon the top of the 
house in which the man lived whose money was 
stolen and each one throw a little dirt down into 
the house through the window. 

Upon the appointed evening every man and wo- 
man in that neighborhood would go to the house 
from which money had been stolen each one carry- 
ing with him in some part of his clothing a little 
dirt. Then the door of the house would be locked 
and everybody would go upon the house top. One 
would now go and throw down through the window 7 
the dirt he brought and return to his place, then 
another, and another, and so on until all had gone and 
cast in some dirt. In this way the one who stole 
the money would be obliged to throw it in with the 
dirt for he would know that he is suspected and if he 
should keep the money he might be accused in the 
court and get into great trouble and have his repu- 



100 ABOUT PEBSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

tation ruined. But if he throws it in with the dirt 
no one can see it and he can appear in the communi- 
ty afterwards as innocent as any one. After all 
have cast in their dirt the owner of the house goes 
in and finds his money. This was done only when 
they were sure that the money was stolen by some 
bad neighbor and not by a stranger. 

On Saturday evening before Easter Sunday it is 
customary among all the Christians of Persia to 
color eggs for Easter. In the evening while they 
are coloring eggs in every house, persons often go 
to different parts of the village and let down by a 
cord through the window small baskets made of 
straw or else stockings. The people inside see it 
but do not know who is at the other end of the cord. 
If they are kind, generous people they will put an 
egg or two into the basket or stocking, after which 
it will be drawn up by the person on the house top 
who let it down, in this way they may visit a num- 
ber of houses walking from one house top to another 
as they would walk on the street, and each one 
gathering a number of eggs in this way. This they 
call, "Daladelpe." 

Sick persons upon their death beds often fix their 
eyes upon these open windows. Many of them even 
speak of what they see through the windows, hence 
the people believe that they do really see just before 
their departure the heavenly messengers God has 
sent to conduct their spirits home. Eastern people 
always think of their own ideas associate'd with 
their windows when they read Jeremiah IX-20-21. 
"Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



10 L 



let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach 
your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor 
lamentation. 

For death is come up into our windows, and is 
entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from 
without, and the young men from the streets." 

They have their looms and cotton-gins in the 
room in which they bake, cook, eat, and sleep, but 




A WIDOW SPINNING. 



they love order and respect virtue and so everything 
goes on harmoniously in their homes. 

Both men and women weave. The men weave 



102 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

cotton goods and the women weave carpets, rugs 
and such articles. Spinning is the especial work of 
women. Very often it happens that a man has 
three or four married sons and then their wives will 
all sit and spin in the same room. Sometimes they 
get up about four o'clock in the morning and sit and 
spin all day. 

' During the winter months widows spin from 
early in the morning until late in the evening. A 
woman receives about twenty cents for spinning one 
pound of cotton, but she must work very hard in 
order to spin as much as a pound a day. If a man 
works very hard at the loom all day he may be able 
to weave as much as ten yards of cotton. 

HOW THEY EAT. 

If a man has for instance four sons and they are 
all married and some of them have children, that of 
course is a large family and when they eat they will 
either put bread and food in a wooden tray which is 
made like a sink and is about three or four feet long 
by a foot and a half wide, or in a copper one about 
three feet in circumference, or else they will simply 
spread a table cloth on the floor which serves them 
as a table to place the food upon. Then the men 
will sit around it according to their ages. For in- 
stance, the father who is absolute master of the 
house sits before it in the place which is considered 
the best and of the highest rank, and next to him 
his oldest son, then the second son and so on accord- 
ing to their ages. When there is such a large family 
the women usually sit in a separate place because 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



103 



the young brides in the family are not allowed, ac- 
cording to the customs of the country, to eat in the 
presence of their father-in-law or even mother-in-law. 




A RESTAURANT. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

For them to see the lips of a bride move would be 
something unheard of. They never use knives and 
forks to eat with, but their fingers instead, and if 
these get wet they lick them. Many people think 
that food tastes better when eaten in this way. The 
main part of every meal is bread. When they have 
meat they usually make a soup and put vegetables 
in it. Onions especially are considered indispen- 
sable. They think nothing tastes so good without 



104 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

onions as it would if it had onions in it. They also 
put a little red pepper into soup to make it look red 
and beautiful and appetizing. We have already de- 
scribed their bread, how large the cakes are and as 
thin and soft as blotting paper. This they break 
up in their soup and when it gets moist eat it. They 
also eat clabber, butter, milk, and cheese. The lat- 
ter is well salted, then pressed into a pitcher and 
buried in the ground for a long time, even a whole 
year often. It then gets a little strong and has an 
excellent flavor. This is eaten with bread broken 
in small morsels. Sometimes they also eat onions, 
pickled green peppers, and some other vegetables 
with cheese. 

Those who have onions growing in their yards 
take the green tops and wrapping them around 
pieces of bread eat it with great relish. They also 
make a dish which they call "aash" by cutting up 
beet tops and celery and cooking them together in 
butter-milk. This they eat with spoons. The com- 
mon people eat very little rice but the rich eat a great 
deal of it. From this they make the two different 
dishes called "dolma" that have already been de- 
scribe in our account of the marriage feast. 

It sometimes happens that guests come unex- 
pectedly and there is not enough bread in the house 
to serve them. In such cases they borrow of their 
neighbors so many loaves and when they bake again 
pay them back. To this effect we have the words 
of our Lord, "And he said unto them, which of you 
shall have a friend and shall go unto him at mid- 
night and say to him lend me three loaves for a 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 105 

friend of mine is come to me from a journey and I 
have nothing to set before him." Luke XI 5-7 



HOUSE TOPS 



During the summer everybody in the cities 

owns, and villages sleeps upon the flat roofs of het 

houses under the open shy. They have bed c otn- 

' Sep on « ° , bed - SteadS - Pe °P le ^e not afraid to 
sleep on the house tops on account of rain or lieht 
mng because there is very little of either durL^the 
summ p ersia is a dry cQu n^tte 

very dry, pure, hght, bracing atmosphere The 

moonlight there is exceedingly bright so tlZ\Ji 
offpn ^n+ +*.«• & v "Aigiu so tnat people 

often eat th ei r suppers upon the tops of their houses 
with no other light than that xf • ,T nouses 

thus sitting, each^am ly I tteir ow? h7 W f 
often ^7no+ k i . own house top 

whlei t0 f £ ^f f ° rth and are *^ -odable 
wmie most of the village people can hear them quite 

MILKING AND MAKING BUTTEK 

They milk cows, buffaloes, and sheep. Cheese i« 
made chiefly of sheep's milk. Buffaloes give rheTa 

ffwhtteT " ° f mUk aDd bUttCT ^ '-m i" 
as * hite as snow. Women do all the milking for t 

» considered a great disgrace for a man t be een 

milking a cow. They milk twice a dav as in this 

country. When they have finished mSdng Z the 

mormng they heat the milk almost to the" boil n. 

point, then remove it from the fire and let it cool a 

of oV mnkt'if *S add n ab ° Ut ' * Me «^ 
^at bylt^t ^Z^ilZ^T'/ 
b-kfast. With a little mVas^ al ?££ 



106 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

sidered a good breakfast. It is used much as rolled 
oats and the different wheat breakfast foods of this 
country are and is a common article of food. In 
Persia they can never make butter from cream or 
sweet milk but have to sour it as has already been 
explained, and then churn it. 

They keep a little sour milk from time to time to 
be used for curdling milk. When a family through 





CHURNING IN A SHEEP SKIN. 

neglect has none they borrow from some one of their 
neighbors, Those who live in villages make butter 
in large earthen pitchers called "meta" while the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 107 

nomadic people who live in tents make it in a sheep's 
skin. 

They fill the sheep's skin with clabber mixed 
with some water. In winter they warm the water 
of course. Then they hang up the sheep skin upon 
some timbers as seen in the picture and shake it 
until the butter is separated from the clabber. 
Butter made in this way is as pure and clean as the 
creamery butter made in this country. They eat 
butter for breakfast when it is fresh, but not every 
morning, and sometimes a little for dinner. Since 
they have very little of it they use it very sparingly. 
They never eat salted butter as butter, but of course 
they have to salt it right away in the summer to keep 
it from becoming rancid. When a ladv has as much 
as ten or twenty pounds of butter she boils it well 
thus making an oil out of it and then it will keep a 
long time. All the impurities settle to the bottom 
and the oil is poured off into earthen pitchers. It 
will then keep for a year or two, and should they 
have no cow, sheep, or buffaloes to milk the next year 
they will still have this boiled butter or oil for cook- 
ing. When kept a long time it gets to look like can- 
died honey. 

HAND MILLS. 

Primitive people beat their corn in mortars, or 
putting a little at a times upon a flat stone pounded 
it with a stone hammer. Afterwards hand mills 
came into use. All three methods are still used in 
Persia. Mortars are now used only for groats or for 
threshing wheat and pounding salt and pepper. 
Grinding with a stone hammer upon a flat stone is 



108 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

used very little now-a-days but the bread baked from 
such flour is most excellent. 

In Persia water mills are usually located near 
the source of the streams and those living near them 
grind their corn on them, but many of the people live 
on the declivities of the mountains and in dessert 
places where there is no water, and furthermore 
many of the streams go dry in summer. All this 
renders the hand mills an absolute necessity all over 




A HAND MILL. 

{From T. H, McAllister, Optician, N Y.) 



Asia. There are other things also that have to be 
ground by hand. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 109 

The picture represents ladies grinding. The 
hand mill consists of two stones each about two feet 
in circumference and three inches thick. They are 
placed upon a smooth level surface. Near the outer 
edge of the upper stone, a hole is drilled and a han- 
dle mserted. Two and sometimes three ladies take 
hold of this handle and make the upper stone re- 
volve as rapidly as possible upon the lower one 
One of the ladies has the wheat by her. Every 
minute or two she puts a handful of wheat into the 
hole running through the center of the upper stone. 
in this way they may grind about five pounds.of 
flour in an hour. This work also belongs especially 
to women although it sometimes becomes necessary 
for men to grind too, but it is very tedious work that 
most men do most reluctantly. 

Bread made from this kind of flour is very good 
During the Old Testament times every family had 
one of these hand mills in their house. No one was 
allowed to take it as a pledge. The sound of a mill 
in a village indicated abundance of blessing, peace 
and prosperity. The sound of the mill is mentioned 
in that connection in Jeremiah XXV-10 "I will 
take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of 
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice 
of the bride, and the sound of the millstone and the 
light of the candle. 

OULTINATING THE GEOUND. 

Persians use oxen or buffaloes to draw their plows 
but buffaloes are prefered for this work because they 
are so strong and can stand such hard work Horses 
are never used for plowing in Persia, because the 



110 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

plows they use are very old-fashioned and poor, and 
the ground is so very hard that it is impossible for 
horses or mules to do the work. When they use a 




FARMER'S AT WORK. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

pair of oxen for plowing they make a very shallow 
furrow. If they use two buffaloes it can be made 
much better, but even then the furrow is not deep 
enough to be really good. The depth they plow de- 
pends upon the size of the plow-share they use, and 
this again must be adapted to the strength of the 
team they are using. The plows they use with a 
single team of either oxen or buffaloes throw the soil 
up on both sides of the furrow. The best and in 
every way most satisfactory plowing they do is 
when four farmers, each owning a pair of buffaloes, 
club together and do their plowing. Then they get 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



Ill 



a very large plow with a big plow-share and hitch 
the eight buffaloes, or four teams to it. One man 
drives each team, sitting on it to do so, while a fifth 




** m 



PLOWING WITH TWO BUFFALOES. 

man guides the plow. Those that sit on the buf- 
faloes and drive them sing a buffalo song which they 
are supposed to enjoy to such an extent that it 
makes them work nicely. Although buffaloes are 
such monsters in size and strength, in capacity for 
eating and working, they are at the same time very 
gentle and domestic animals. During the summer 
they like to lie in water. Usually their owners give 
them a good bath once or twice each day in the 
warm weather. In winter they are kept in warm 
stables and given a good bath once or twice a week. 
About twice during each winter their whole bodies 
are rubbed with a kind of naptha to allay their itch- 



112 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



ing and heal the wounds and bruises they ha\e re- 
ceived by being whipped and beaten while at work 
for their terrible slowness. 




PLOWING WITH EIGHT BUFFALOES. 

Boys take them to pasture, riding on their backs 
to do so, and still sitting there while the buffaloes 
graze. Sometimes the boys will even lie down on 
the buffaloes' backs and go to sleep while the buf- 
faloes eat. 

Mosquitoes and flies annoy buffaloes a great deal 
so they go and lie down in muddy places in order 
to cover themselves with mud to keep these insects 
from worrying them. Buffaloes are not afraid of 
any animals to speak of except lions and other buf- 
faloes. There are many stories current in the coun- 
try about fights among these animals. For ex- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 113 

ample, once a lion and a buffalo met. The moment 
they caught sight of each other the buffalo rushed 
upon the lion, knocked him down and shoved him 
on the ground until he died. The buffalo then left 
the lion but in a few minutes his own heart broke 
and he died too, showing how terribly frightened he 
had been. When two stranger buffaloes meet they 
light most fiercely for hours, even for half a day 
sometimes, until finally one of them gives up and 
runs away pursued by his enemy for a mile or two. 

Once there was a man who kept two very large 
buffaloes. One day one of them was out in a field 
grazing when a wolf came suddenly up and 
springing upon him ran his sharp teeth into the 
thick skin of the buffalo's hip. But the skin w r as so 
thick and tough that the wolf could not tear it as it 
could the skin of an ox, so it hung there by its teeth 
while the buffalo, terribly frightened ran home as 
fast as he could, the wolf hanging behind him add- 
ing to his fright. When the owner of the buffalo 
saw him and understood the situation he spoke to 
him to quiet his fear and then shot the wolf and af- 
terwards removed his teeth from the buffalo's skin. 

PERSIAN MUSIC AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 

Persians play on different kinds of stringed and 
wind instruments and also sing. There are three 
different kinds of stringed instruments in common 
use among the people. They are the "Saaz," the 
"Taar," and the "Kamanja." They learn to play by 
ear and not by note. They learn to play very well 
in this way. Their tunes are characteristically 
sweet and mournful. They always try to play and 



114 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



sing such tunes as may move the hearts of their 
hearers to a mournful ecstacy. To them accustom- 
ed to it there is nothing so sweet and so charming 
as their music, while to the people of this country 
who are unfamiliar with it, it is nothing but a mo- 
notonous noise, not at all appreciated. 




PERSIAN PLAYING ON THE SAAZ. 

The instrument seen in this picture is a "saaz" 
It is made of mulberry wood and consists of the 
table or flat surface, the body made of eight or ten 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 115 

ribs that make it look like a melon, the neck having 
several stops or divisions, and the head on which 
the screws for tuning are inserted. They strike the 
strings of this instrument with the right hand in 
playing, while with the left they press the stops 
Men play and sing both in public and in private and 
at times sing and play in the streets to attract a 
crowd around them. Then they play and sing for a 
long time, when they are going to stop they put 
down their musical instruments and relate a most 
thrilling little story about somebody ending it by 
saying that the hero of it is now poor and sick and 
in prison. His listeners then take up a collection, 
some giving only pennies while others put in silver 
money even, for this poor friendless hero and give it 
to the musician. For the songs that they sing they 
depend entirely upon their memories because they 
have no written music. Of these memorized songs, 
however, every musician has quite a store so that 
he can sing for three or even five days without ex- 
hausting them or having to repeat any. Such sing- 
ers learn a great many songs by hearing them only 
once. The following are specimens of the different 
kinds of songs they sing: 

A Wordly Song. 

"O ignorant gardener, 

Enter not the garden. 
The whole garden is dressed red. 

I heard that our sweet-heart 
Is coming to us. 

The whole road is arrayed in red. 



116 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Thou hast pulled Karam's tooth. 
His whole tongue is dressed red. r 
Karam was a Mohammedan who was so in love with 
a Christian girl that he wrote thirteen cameFs loads 
of love-songs about her. Once he went so soundly 
to sleep with his head in her lap that seven of his 
teeth were pulled without his feeling it, hence the 
allusion. 

An Ethical Song. 

"Sheiktaye son of Kanber, 
I'm indebted to a master. 
Linder will come and ask payment, 
I cannot deny it. what shall I do? 
From heaven two angels came doAvn, 

One could speak, the other was dumb. 
I answered the one that could speak 
But with the dumb I can not speak, 
What shall I do?" 
Linder is God the giver of the soul, the two angels 
are the angels of death. The one who has speech 
is supposed to be merciful, while the one that is 
dumb is supposed to be unmerciful and will hear 
none of man's arguments. So the best thing to do is 
to deliver the soul at once to him when he asks for it. 

An Elegiac Song. 

. "O Masters, three things I fear, 

One is poverty, one separation, one death. 
How many kings have ye dethroned! 

How many rosy cheeks have ye paled! 
How many have ye sent by unretraceable 

. paths! 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



117 



O ye three; poverty, separation and 

death." 

The "taar" has sometimes five, sometimes six 

strings. In shape as well as name it is something 




PERSIAN PL4YING ON THE TAAR 

like the guitar. The body of it is made from a sin- 
gle piece of mulberry wood hollowed out on the one 
side and having stretched over this concave surace 
a material taken from the surface of the buffalo's 
heart, something like very thin parchment, only 
thinner and very tough and strong. On the neck 



118 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

of it there are about fifteen stops, made of thread, 
that can be moved up or down to get the proper tone. 
There are screws on the end for tuning it. The 
stringsarestruckwiththe right hand while the left 
is used for pressing the stops. It has a much louder 
and clearer sound than the guitar. It is used chiefly 
by the higher classes of Mohammedans. 

The "kamanja" is also made of mulberry wood be- 
cause the Persians think there is no other kind of 
wood that produces such clear, loud notes. The 
body of this instrument like the "saaz" is made mel- 
on-shaped and hollowed out on the front side. An 
iron rod is run through this body from the lower end 
through the upper end of it, extending several inches 
beyond. Upon this end of the iron rod the neck of 
it, having three screws for tuning, is fastened very 
firmly and in this all the pieces are held tightly to- 
gether. Across the concave surface a thin skin is 
tightly drawn. The outside of this melon-shaped 
bowl is inlaid with the flexible ribs of the camel 
which are ornamented with small pieces of glitter- 
ing metal and mother-of-pearl. The whole instru- 
ment is made entirely by hand. The player sits on 
the floor and rests his "kamanja" on the lower end 
of the iron rod just mentioned, and plays it with a 
bow like that used for violins. Most people like the 
"kamanja" better than the "saaz" or the "taar" and 
upon it they can play all kinds of tunes and melo- 
dies. In tone it is very similar to the violin though 
louder and clearer and we think sweeter. 

Many of the Nestorian Christians suppose that 
the harp of David was like the "kamanja" because 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 119 

in their old Syriac version of the Bible it is mention- 
ed under the name of "kenara" which is much like 
the Hebrew "kinnar." In the modern Syriac ver- 
sion it is called "kamanja" both words meaning the 
same thing. When ,the spiritual songs are well ren- 
dered on the "kanianja" they are very impressive. 
For instance when they play and sing the one hun- 
dred and thirty-seventh psalm with the halelujah as 
f olows : 

"By the river of Babylon, there we sat down 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord. 
"Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord. 
<r We hanged our harp upon the willows in the 

midst thereof. 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord." 
Then they feel as if they were actually beholding 
the groups of captive Israelites as they sat forlornly 
under the shadow of the willow trees around Baby- 
lon. 

But if they should sing the one hundred and 
third psalm: 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul ; 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord. 
"And all that is within me, bless his holy name. 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord. 
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, 



120 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord. 
"And forget not all his benefits : 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to the Lord." 

Then their hearts would swell with inexpressible 
joy. Sometimes they even weep for gladness. The 




PERSIAN PLAYING ON THE KAMANJA, 

"kamanja" is one of the oldest and best musical in* 
struments in the East. 

The Assyrian Christians of Persia do not allow 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 121 

any kind of musical instruments to be played in 
their churches. Neither have they any that are fit 
for church use. The "saaz", "taar", and "kamanja" 
are all rather too small, while pianos and organs 
are not yet made there and it too expensive and diffi- 
cult to have them imported as yet, since there are no 
railroads or even wagon roads. Some Europeans who 
reside there, and some wealthy Persians have 
brought a few organs and pianos into the country but 
it has cost them a great deal. 

My grandfather, Moratkhan, was a very skillful 
player on the u saaz" and used to sing a great many 
worldly songs, He was always a firm believer in 
the Christian religion but before he was really con- 
verted he thought it no sin to play and sing such 
songs. When he was converted, however, he threw 
down his "saaz" and kicked it to pieces and never 
again played on it to the end of his life thus sacri- 
ficing his worldly pleasure to his conception of his 
religious duty. Christ' accepted the offering, how- 
ever needlessly made as we may think, and rewarded 
him with a peaceful happy life and a triumphant 
death. 

CONDITION OF THE LOWER CLASSES. 

The lower classes are farmers and day laborers 
and they are in a most deplorable condition because 
all the land in the kingdom of Persia is owned by 
khans or landlords. Very few of the lower classes 
have even a little piece of land consequently most of 
them are extremely poor. Some of the khans own 
from thirty to sixty villages. The lower classes who 
live in these villages belonging to a khan have in the 



122 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

first place to buy a lot from their khan and build a 
house on it. Then every year they have to pay tax 
on the house. If they keep cattle they must pay 
tax on every female buffalo, sheep, mare, cow, and 
donkey. Every house has to. furnish to the khan 
annually two chickens and a certain number of 
eggs and about one hundred and fifty pounds of fuel 
which must be of timber. This is, of course, very 
scarce in most parts of that dry barren mountainous 
country. Many of the peasants have no timber at 
all and have to buy it to pay their khan. The peo- 
ple in general burn dry manure and kindle it with 
small twigs of brush wood. 

Each adult man has to work regularly two days 
out of every year for the khan besides the occasional 
jobs that he is required to do without pay. When a 
young man marries he must also pay a fee to his 
khan or master. The khan furnishes the land while 
the peasants have to furnish everything else that is 
necessary to produce and take off their crops of 
wheat, barley or millet, and make the grain ready 
for use, then they are allowed to keep one third of it 
while the other two-thirds they must give to the 
khan for the use of the land. Besides all these 
things they have to pay the government taxes which 
are not only double but sometimes more than double 
the amount they have to pay to the khan. 

A common laborer receives about twenty-five 
cents a day for his work which makes it exceedingly 
hard for him to support a family and pay the ex- 
orbitant taxes. When the collectors come to a vil- 
lage many of the men will run away because they 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 123 

have no money at hand to pay their taxes. When a 
khan or lord returns from a journey and comes to 
visit his village, the peasants all prepare to meet 
him at a certain distance from the village. They 
take with them an animal. At their meeting with 
their khan they cut its head off in the road then 
place its head on one side of the road and its body 
on the other, which means, "O master, may the lines 
of thine enemies be thus broken or cut asunder be- 
fore thee!" 

Upon his arrival his peasant subjects bring him 
eggs, chickens, and fruit, and he and his servants 
feast at the expense of his poor down-trodden sub- 
jects. Those that are in at all good .circumstances 
he will try to find fault with and then punish and 
fine them. 

The khans are especially cruel to the Nestorian 
Christians who are a defenseless people with whom 
the khans can do just about as they please. The 
khan levies a poll-tax upon every adult Christian 
and instead of waiting until they reach a certain age 
and then taxing them, they watch their people and 
as soon as a boy is large enough so that he begins to 
do a little work the khan adds his name to the tax 
lists. When he comes to collect the taxes he calls 
the boy's father and tells him that it is time for his 
son to begin paying poll-tax. The first year he is 
required to pay only half of the amount assessed, 
the khan generously (?) giving him the other half, 
but after that first year he must pay his poll-tax as 
long as he lives. The khan puts this poll-tax into 
his own pocket just as a man who owns sheep and 



124 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

has them sheared takes the money for the fleece as 
his own. This is the way in which the Nestorian 
and Armenian Christians of Persia are treated. 
They are ground down and oppressed by cruel laws 
and still more cruel masters who act as though they 
had a divine right to take from them whatever they 
can by any pretext get of their hard-earned savings, 
then require them, every subject, to stand erect and 
bow down before them as they pass by. Nor is that 
even, bad as it is, the worst treatment that our peo- 
ple receive at their hands. The wicked khans as 
they pass through the Christian villages see the 
beautiful daughters of the Christians and where 
there is one that pleases their wicked fancy they lie 
in wait for her until they find her out alone or un- 
protected then seize her, dishonor her and carry her 
off to their harems in the cities. There she is kept, 
the poor helpless inexperienced girl, in an elegant 
harem and shown beautiful dresses and plenty of 
gold and silver and in this way induced to accept 
the Mohammedan religion. If her parents should 
complain of the matter to the authorities it will not 
help matters at all for Christians can not have jus- 
tice clone them and furthermore they know, the poor 
broken-hearted parents, that she is lost forever from 
the flock of Christ. Yea, that she is ruined bodv 
and soul for both time and eternity, or do they yet 
hope that their prayers may still be heard at the 
throne of grace and their wronged and erring loved 
one may be granted mercy and re-united to them 
where such cruel separations and sin are unknown? 
The khans also punish their Christian subjects in 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 125 

a most cruel and brutish manner because they re- 
gard them as wicked beings who deny that Moham- 
med was the prophet of God. Nor is their anger 
appeased by punishing them, not at all, not until 
they have exacted a fine also. This expression, 
"what shall we do, did they not scourge Christ also?" 
is very common among these poor persecuted Chris- 
tians. When they are over taxed they say to each 
other "Our 'Meshika' (Christ) had to pay tax too. v 
No language can express the cruelty that has been 
inflicted upon them for centuries, yet they have borne 
the galling yoke of Mohammedanism with a wonder- 
ful amount of fortitude and Christian patience, fol- 
lowing, to the very letter, the teachings and example 
of their master "Who when he was reviled, reviled 
not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but 
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." 
Not only are they devoured by brutal khans but 
their property, money, and daughters are made a prey 
1o their Mohammedan neighbors in such ways as the 
following: If a Mohammedan becomes angry with a 
Christianhewillwoundhisown head so that the blood 
runs doAvn upon his own clothes, then he will assume 
an expression as frightened as if he had fought with 
dogs, and in this miserable condition he will go be 
fore the magistrate and accuse the Christian of 
wounding his head. The magistrate knows at once 
that the man is bearing false witness, but he never- 
theless dispatches his officers immediately to arrest 
the Christian and bring him into his presence. This 
is at once done and a fine is imposed upon the Chris- 
tian. He is also required to pay a fee to the officers 



126 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

who arrested him. He will thus lose without and 
cause whatever on his part more than he can earn by 
several months of hard labor. 

Another one may accuse a Christian before the 
court of having reviled the Mohammedan religion, 
when it will again go hard with him. 

Another one may lay claim to a Christian's pro- 
perty by saying that this property once belonged to 
my grand-father or some other relative. When the 
case comes before the magistrate he will soon find 
that the Mohammedan is in the wrong and has no 
case at all. He then settles the matter by requiring 
the Christian to pay a fee to himself, to his secretary, 
and to some of his other officers for their services. 

Again a worthless Mohammedan young man will 
come and hang around a Christian village to see if 
he can not dishonor some Christian girl and then 
make a Mohammedan of her. This they consider a 
most heroic and meritorious act because they believe 
that the converting of a Christian to their religion 
saves that person's soul and insures them a great re- 
ward regardless of the means employed for its ac- 
complishment. 

In the cities Christians are not allowed to sell 
anything that is watery or liquid, as * molasses, but- 
ter, and such articles. If a Christian's hands or 
clothes are wet he must not touch a Mohammedan 
for that would defile the Mohammedan. If by mis- 
take a Christian should drink from an earthen-ware 
vessel belonging to a Mohammedan the latter can 
never again use it so the Christian must pay him 
the cost of the vessel thus defiled. Mohammedans 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 127 

give water to Christians to drink in vessels of copper 
or glass because they think that these materials do- 
not retain filth as earthen- ware does. Mohammedans 
will never eat the flesh of an animal whose head was 
cut off by a Christian, nor will they buy its skin. 
Hence when Christians are going to sell meat they 
get a Mohammedan to kill it for them and then they 
can sell it without any trouble. Mohammed told his 
followers that they must not eat bread baked by the 
hands of Christians or infidels. The Christians con- 
sider this command a great blessing to themselves 
for they say if the Mohammedans ate our bread yet 
they would truly leave us nothing for they are like 
hungry wolves who eat, and eat, and* are never sat- 
isfied. When they sit at the table of Christians they 
eat as though they were almost starved. 

If two persons get into a fight and one inflicts a 
wound upon the person of the other, the wounded 
man will take the case before a magistrate who will 
command a servant of his to find a surgeon and take 
the wounded man, and the surgeon before a 
priest to whom the surgeon will describe the char- 
acter of the wound, how deep it is, etc. Whereupon 
the priest will write a letter stating how much 
money the man who inflicted the wound shall pay to 
the wounded man. The man who inflicted the in- 
jury will then have to pay the designated amount to 
the injured man besides paying a fine to the magis- 
trate, a fee to the surgeon, and a fee to the priest. 

If a Mohammedan should wound a Christian, 
very little attention would be paid to the case be- 
cause in their sight it is nothing if a Christian be 



128 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

wounded by a Mohammedan. But if a Christian 
should wound a Mohammedan it is considered a 
dreadful thing — for a wicked inferior being to raise 
his hand against one of "Allah's" (God's) own peo- 
ple. Then the punishment and fine will go far be- 
yond the merits of the case. 

The price of the blood of a Christian is fixed in 
the book of their law at sixty dollars while that of a 
Mohammedan is a thousand dollars, or as they say, 
the price of the blood of a Mohammedan is infinite 
because he is one of God's people, whereas a Chris- 
tian is an inferior ungodly being whom it is all right 
and in perfect conformity with the teachings of their 
holy book to kill. For the Koran teaches that in- 
fidels, that is Christians, must be put to death. 

The Mohammedans acknowledge, however, that 
while they steal from the Christians and rob them of 
their property, fine and hate them there are still left 
among them more blessings than they ever have 
among themselves. They also acknowledge that 
while everything is in their hands and the Christians 
are hated and despised by them yet there is more real 
genuine happiness among these despised followers 
of the "Meek and lowly Jesus" than is ever known 
among them, the arrogant disciples of Mohammed. 

The Nestorian Christians have rather a dark com- 
plexion and very dark eyes and a strong robust con- 
tistution. They are diligent, energetic and very re- 
ligious but unfortunately very superstitious and ig- 
norant. In the long school of trials and sufferings 
through which they have passed and are passing, 
they have learned to be submissive and patient and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



129 



are well accustomed to hardships and privations. 
They are good and trust-worthy friends, reliable and 
faithful in business, kind and hospitable to stran- 




A NESTORIAN CHRISTIAN WOMAN OF OROOMIAH. 

gers, naturally bright and ingenious. Were they 
not continually oppressed and down-trodden by the 
tyranny of the khans much might be expected of 
them. But can any one wonder that they are primi- 
tive in their methods, poor and ignorant; rather let 
them wonder that they still have so many good 
points, so many admirable traits of character after 
all these centuries of worse than Egyptian bondage. 



130 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
MODES OF TRAVELING. 

In the whole kingdom of Persia there is only twenty 
six miles of railroad. Six miles run from the 
Capital City, Teheran, to Shah-abdel-azem the sum- 
mer resort of the Shah. Neither are there any reg- 
ular public roads over which hauling could be done> 
therefore all the exports and imports of the country 
are carried upon the backs of animals. Certain per- 
sons who have each so many camels, or horses, or 
donkeys, or mules, club together and form a caravan. 
They each load their beasts of burden with merchan- 
dise and travel together for their mutual protec- 
tion against highway robbers. Many travelers hire 
horses of these caravans and travel with them be- 
cause that is the safest way to travel in that country. 
The caravan men lead the way and take care of trav- 
elers in their company to the very best of their abili- 
ty. When a caravan assumes the responsibility of 
carrying travelers no matter who they are they are 
very faithful to their trust. Should any one try to 
molest a traveler thus under their protection the 
head man of the caravan promptly attends to the 
matter telling the intruder that he is the man to be 
dealt with in that caravan. Certain caravan men 
have quie a reputation for conducting travelers safe- 
ly for they make that a business and thoroughly un- 
derstand it. 

Camels are liked best for this business on account 
of their great strength for bearing burdens, their 
great ability to endure hardships such as hunger 
and thirst, and their gentleness, and on account of 
their being so easily kept. A few persons only can 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



131 



lead a caravan of fifty or one hundred camels. The 
camels are all bound together and go on the road 
one behind the other like the coaches of a very long 
train. Bells are hung upon the camel's necks. 
While traveling they tinkle continually and if dur- 
ing dark nights highwaymen should stop a camel 
the sound of the bells would be interrupted. The 
caravan men's ears are so accustomed to the sound 
of these bells that they at once detect it if one goes 
wrong and they are equally prompt to see what the 
trouble is and right it. The city of Tabriz is the cen- 
ter of commerce, so all kinds of caravans pass 
through it daily. The jingling of the caravan bells 




BURDEN BEARERS 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 



is as noticeable and characteristic there as is the 
rattling of wagons and vehicles in American cities. 



132 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

The greater part of Persia is a mountainous and 
rugged country, and as has already been said, wagon 
roads of any kind are few and unimportant. There 
are consequently very few vehicles of any sort to be 
met with in country or town. 

Since there are no wagons to speak of with 
horses to them it becomes necessary for people to 
carry heavy loads of all kinds of things on their 
backs for long distances. These load carriers are 
called "hamals" and correspond to the city express- 
men of this country. It is very common to see these 
persons carrying heavy loads of hay, fruit, wheat, 
furniture, fuel, earth, manure, ashes, and so forth 
on their backs. They carry goods on their backs to 
any desired point in the city, even for very long dis- 
tances and charge for the service only a few pennies. 





V, 



TRAVELING IN TEKTARAVAN. 

It is not that they are naturally so strong that they 
can carry such heavy loads but because they accus- 
tom themselves to this kind of work from their child- 
hood. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



133 



The higher classes of men in Persia travel on 
horse-back, the shah himself rides for hundreds of 
miles in this way. But for ladies belonging to the 
upper classes the "tektaravan" is used. It is some- 
what similar to the sedan. It rests upon two poles 
and is carried by horses and used by wealthy people 
only. The "tektaravan" is often seen passing 
through the streets accompanied by the jingling of 
the bells on the horses necks. It is followed and 




TRAVELING IN THE KAJAVA. 

(From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

surrounded by a number of servants and attendants. 
While it is thus passing by with so much splendor 
few people know what ladies are in it unless they 



134 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



should happen to know whose servants are accom- 
panying it because it is covered. Persian ladies very 
much enjoy traveling in this way just as American 
ladies enjoy their Pullman parlor cars. 

Next in point of comfort to the "tektaravan" is 
the "kajava" for ladies to travel in. It is used by 
the middle classes and by some of the higher classes 
also, and consists of two cages or boxes made of wood 
and bound together. These have their fronts open 




LOWER CLASSES TRAVELING ON DONKEYS. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

and are fastened securely on the backs of horses or 
mules. One lady sits in each while the articles they 
have with them are placed with the lighter lady in 
order to balance the "kajava" and prevent it from 
swinging too much. Some ladies who are not much 
accustomed to it become quite dizzy from traveling 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 135 

in this way, though most ladies enjoy it. When 
they are starting out of a city on a journey or are 
coming in they cover the front of these boxes so that 
no one may see the ladies occupying them, but when 
they get outside the city walls they open them for the 
enjoyment of the ladies who are thus journeying. 
The "kajava" is always guarded by servants or 
^charvadars." They travel long distances in this 
way and it is a very common mode of traveling 
throughout the whole of Persia. 

The lower classes or villagers do what little trav- 
eling falls to their miserable lot on foot or upon the 
backs of donkeys, seldom upon horse-back. Don- 
keys are the animals most generally used among the 
lower classes, both for riding and bearing burdens, 
and while all the modes of traveling in Persia are 
very slow and tedious this one is especially noted for 
its slowness. Consequently those who travel in this 
way must have an extraordianry amount of patience. 
This is found among the Mohammedans who are 
naturally a very slow people so they and their 
donkeys work together very harmoniously while the 
Christians of Persia use them very little because they 
are naturally quick and strong and hard workers so 
the donkeys are too slow for them. They prefer to 
do the work themselves and would rather walk as a 
rule than to ride a donkey. 

The donkey, however, is to the Mohammedan 
what the American railway system is to the Ameri- 
can. It is equally indispensable and stands for his 
civilization. Of coarse it would not be quite as bad 
"to kill a donkey among the Mohammedans as to 



136 ABOUT PBRS'IA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

wreck a train in this country but it may at least be 
compared to it. 

THE WORK OF THE LOWER CLASSES. 

Common laborers work from sunrise to sunset. 
There being no machinery all work is done by hand. 
They dig with spades and build mud walls for houses 
and around vineyards and gardens and even some- 
times around fields. Irrigation is about the most 
important and indispensable work they do because 
there is not sufficient rain to keep the ground fertile. 
Hence they must irrigate the land that they sow or 
they would have no crops at all and would starve as 
a consequence. During the winter great quantities 
of snow fall upon the many mountains of Persia and 
in the spring when it melts it runs down into the 
valleys like rivers. Then the people who live in 
these small plains and valleys conduct it from the 
river into their fields by means of small canals that 
they dig. The basin around Oroomiah is a net work 
of such canals. Sometimes water is very scarce and 
then the people quarrel as to which one is to have it. 

MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN. 

It is the policy of the Mohammedans not to open 
too wide the eyes of women consequently they have 
no schools for girls. Among the higher classes even, 
very few ever teach their daughters to read conse- 
quently there are millions of Mohammedan women 
who during their whole lives can never take up a 
book and read or sit down and write a letter to their 
friends. Sometimes it happens that a woman's hus- 
band has to reside for a time several hundred miles 
distant from her. In such a case should she wish to- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



137 



write to Mm she will cover her face and go to a priest 
and tell him what she wants to have written to her 
husband. He then writes the letter for her and she 
pays him for it. When she receives a letter from 






A MOHAMMEDAN LADY- 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

her husband she again has to go to the priest or some 
one else that can read and has them read it for her. 
This shows how very ignorant they are and no won- 
der then that they are so superstitious. When they 
go out it is customary for them to cover their entire 
body with a large blue wrap, while a linen veil, with 



138 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

small holes in it for the eyes, is worn over the face. 
These wraps they wear are nearly all of the same 
color and the same material so that when they are 
out walking many of them cannot be recognized by 
their own nearest relatives even. Kich and poor 
appear just the same. When they go to a party, or 
ladies' reception we might call it, they paint their 
faces with a red substance, and blacken their eyes, 
eyelashes and eyebrows with black antimony. Many 
of them color their fingers and finger nails and even 
their feet red with henna. They dye their hair also 
with henna and plait it in many long braids. They 
wear necklaces and chains around their necks and 
bracelets and glass bangles on their arms. Quite a 
number of them smoke pipes. Most of the ladies of 
the higher classes are very idle. They invite each 
other to parties by turns. Often ten or fifteen of 
them may be seen in the streets attended by servants, 
going to parties. Where women are gathered no 
men appear, and where the men are no women come. 
Fashions among Mohammedan women do not 
change as they do among ladies of this country. 
There a costume that was worn by a lady twenty or 
more years ago is just the same as those worn by 
their ladies of today. I dare say that I have seen 
more changes of styles in the ladies' dress of this 
country during my short residence here than all the 
records of Persia in that line could show, were such 
records kept, from the time of the resting of the Ark 
on Ararat to the present day. The Mohammedan 
ladies cover their person when they go out, but the 
ladies of this country wear hats upon their heads in- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 139 

stead. Mohammedan women are never seen bare- 
headed, and their voice must not be heard in the 
streets and their mouths must not be seen moving to 
eat anything. If two ladies wish to speak to each 
other in the streets they must step aside where they 
cannot be seen by the passers-by. 

Women of the lower classes work very hard. 
Peasant women rise early in the morning and do 
their milking and general house-work. Then they 
take their sickles and cut grain in the harvest fields, 
or their short handled hoes and cut weeds in the 
cotton fields. In the evening when they come home 
there will be seen on their backs a five foot square 
canvas filled with fresh grass for the cows and buf- 
faloes and their young. This they feed them in the 
evenings so that they may have plenty of nice milk 
the next morning. Widows do harvesting, weeding, 
sewing, weaving and spinning. During the wheat 
harvest they go to the fields and glean but they are 
seldom allowed to follow the reapers. They glean 
after the wheat is stacked gathering the heads one 
by one they take them home and thresh them and 
in this way add to the store of grain for the winter. 
Dish washing is a very small item with them for they 
use very few dishes. After some meals there are 
none to wash. They very seldom wash clothes 
either. When they do a certain plant and the bark 
of the soap tree are used for it and very little soap. 

It is the women of the middle and some too of the 
lower classes that have made Persia famous all over 
the world for her elegant rugs, carpets and shawls. 
They spin the yarn and dye it at home in the excel- 



140 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



lent colors that hold their own as long as a piece of 
it remains. It takes a long time to make these rugs, 
however, for every particle of the work is done by 




LADIES WEAVING RUGS. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. V.) 

hand. It requires from three to four months to 
make a single rug but when finished it is not only 
beautiful but will also last for over twenty years 
thus making Persians rugs celebrated not only for 
their beauty but for their durability as well. 

MOHAMMEDAN GIRLS. 

Every Mohammedan father considers the birth of 
a daughter as a great misfortune but comforts him- 
self with the hope that his next child may be a boy. 
If a second one happens to be a girl also he will up : 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 1^1 

braid his wife most severely, but no matter how 
many girls he has he must keep and take good care 
of them all. At a very early age little girls collect 




MOHAMMEDAN GIRL. 

{From T.H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

numbers of pieces of different kinds of cloth from 
which they make dolls to play with. In that coun- 
try there are no ready-made dolls to be bought for 
children so they must make their own. In this wav 
they learn their first lessons in sewing. They also 
take old stockings and ravel them and save the yarn 
to make balls out of and then play games of ball up- 
on the house tops in the fall of the year. 



142 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Mohammedan girls learn very early to paint 
their faces and darken their eyes, eyelashes and eye- 
brows. In order to make their hair very dark they 
dye it several times in succession with henna. Then 
it becomes as black as desired and very glossy and 
they braid it in many long braids, some times as 
many as fifteen. They also pierce each others' ears 
with needles, afterward inserting thread greased 
with butter to keep the holes open until they are 
healed. These holes will then remain open for life 
for the wearing of ear-rings. They also tattoo each 
others' faces and hands and sometimes their feet by 
pricking a wound the size and shape they wish and 
then filling it with black antimony. This also will 
remain black for life. Christians there do the same 
thing. They also dye their hands and particularly 
their finger nails red, and sometimes their feet also, 
and in every way, little girl-like, imitate the example 
of their elders. They carry with them pocket look- 
ing glasses, but boys and young men never do so for 
it is considered a great shame for a boy to carry a 
mirror and if he were seen with one in his possession 
he would at once be called a girl. 

Quite young daughters of the middle and some of 
the lower classes are taught to weave rugs and car- 
pets and to make some ornaments for the house and 
some articles for their weddings. Girls in general 
are strictly forbidden the company of boys and are 
not even allowed to speak to them. As has already 
been stated the boys and girls never mingle together 
but are always kept separated, girls associating with 
girls and boys with boys. There are no occasions 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 143 

whatever when both sexes may be gathered together. 
Once I was irrigating a field that lay close by a 
Mohammedan village and while I was working at it 
about half of the ladies of the village came out with 
their earthen jars on their backs to get water for 
household use in their different homes as it is cus- 
tomary to carry water every morning and evening 
for daily use in their homes. These ladies spoke to 
me and thanked me for the good water I had brought 
through the canal and then talked quite pleasantly 
and freely with each other and with me. They are 
not afraid to talk with Christians because they know 
that Christians are pure and faithful and then they 
have so little respect for Christians that it makes no 
difference. While they were filling up their jars and 
talking a Mohammedan young man came along and 
immediately they stopped talking and covered their 
faces, every one of them. The young Mohammedan 
said, "They were talking with you but as soon as 
they saw me they stopped because the Mohammedan 
is wicked — he has a salty eye." Such are the rela- 
tions existing between Mohammedan boys and girls. 
One way of getting water for irrigation and daily 
use has already been explained, that is through 
canals connected with rivers. From these girls or 
ladies carry the water in earthen jars. During the 
summer season most of the rivers dry up and then 
wells are dug. In most parts of Persia the wells are 
very poor and pumps for them are unknown. There 
are several millions of Mohammedans in Persia and 
while they are the ruling class and as such could in- 
troduce improvements, they are a very dull and slow- 



144 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

going people. It has not occurred to them either to 
make or try to make such a thing as a pump. The 
native Christians are enterprising enough but they 
are so few and they are so oppressed by their Mo- 
hammedan rulers that when they would introduce 
anything new they are looked upon with envy and it 
is said of them, "These dogs are going mad or crazy." 
In this way their freedom is checked but they have 
never-the-less done much for the enlightenment both 
spiritually and temporally of their cruel fanatical 
Mohammedan neighbors, but pumps they have not 
yet introduced and so the people still pull up water 
from the wells by means of a wooden pole about two 
inches thick and as long as the well is deep. In one 
end of this pole a hole is bored and an earthen vessel 
is fastened. This they let down into the water and 
when it is filled pull it up again. Kopes are also 
used for this purpose. If they only had artesian 
wells what a blessing they would be for' drinking 
purposes, for household use and for irrigation! Per- 
sia with its naturally fine climate might become a 
rich and fertile country instead of the dry barren one 
it now is. 

They have still another method of getting drink- 
ing water called "kaharez", which is as follows: At 
intervals of about every sixty feet more or less a well 
about twelve feet deep is dug. These wells are con- 
nected by an underground passage about three feet 
wide and four feet high. These underground pas- 
sages something like small tunnels run under hills 
and elevated lands and are from ten to fifteen miles 
long. In making such water subterranean passages 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 145 

they often strike small veins of water which are led 
through the passages from well to well, to the vil- 
lages, cities and fields. The work of making these 
passages is very slow, tedious and expensive. Oc- 
casionally they cave in and have to be repaired which 
adds still more to the expense. Their object in get- 
ting water in this way is to have it flow continually 7 
and furthermore in some places this system is an ab- 
solute necessity because they cannot get water in 
any other way. During the hot seasons of summer 








CHRISTIAN GIRLS CARRYING WATER IN EARTHERN JARS. 

crowds of ladies are seen every day, some going 
others returning with earthen jars on their backs 
from the places where "kaharez" waters are to be 
had. There the ladies have a good chance of meet- 
ing each other and chatting together every day. 



146 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



MOHAMMEDAN BOYS. 

The news of the birth of a boy is the source of great 
joy and happiness to the father. When several sons 
are born in succession their mother receives muck 
praise and honor at the hands of her husband for 
these great blessings. 




MOHAMMEDAN PRIEST AND HIS PUPIL. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

At the age of five or six years they play games 
with sling-bones and nuts instead of the marbles in 
which the boys of this country delight. There are 
no public schools in Persia except some parochial 
schools in connection with the mosques or temples; 
and taught by Mohammedan priests. Very few vil- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 147 

lage boys go to school at all but most of the boys who 
live in the cities go to school and learn to read and 
write. When boys go to school they usually sit in 
two rows. One row sits along one wall books in 
hand and the other row along the opposite wall 
while the teacher sits in the center of the room. 
They do not use chairs but sit on the floor which is 
covered with a reed matting. When they are study- 
ing their lessons they sway their bodies backward 
and forward as though they were in a rocking chair 
and read in a sing-song style as though they were 
chanting, sometimes so loud that they can be heard 
for quite a distance. They have neither blackboards 
nor slates but use paper and reed pens for learning 
to write. They put their left knee on the floor and set 
their right one up for a desk to rest the paper on. 
They use the Arabic alphabet and read and write 
from right to left instead of left to right. They also 
begin their books at the back reading forward. In 
their schools they learn to read some tales and tra- 
ditions of the Koran and some poetry but do not 
study much mathematics or geography and no 
science but plenty of astrology. W T hen they have 
finished school they become secretaries, shop- 
keepers, merchants, priests, jewelers and bankers. 

Mohammedans ^practice circumcision. This is 
done when they are small boys only a few years old. 
Barbers makt contracts with two or three villages 
to come statedly once every week or once every two 
weeks to shave the men. They carry with them in a 
skin belt or girdle worn around their waists, razors, 
scissors, whet-stones, a little mirror and a comb. 



148 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

When they come to a village they find a number of 
men in the streets and at once begin shaving them 
taking them in regular order. Others they find at 
home and still others at work. The barber shaves 
them wherever he happens to find them whether at 
home or in the street. He shaves the head but leaves 
a tuft of hair on the top and behind each ear. He 
also shaves the faces of young men but not of old 
men, and he never shaves off a man's mustache for the 
people would laugh at a man without a mustache and 
call him a girl. To soften the hair for shaving they 
do not use soap but simply cold water. At the same 
time that the barber is in the village shaving the men 
he also circumcises the boys. They then receive their 
names. For giving a girl her name they simply call 
in an old woman who speaks the girPs name aloud 
in her ear. 

Among Mohammedan children and even among 
old people cursing is very common. They say "May 
'Alalh' kill your children or burn your house, or may 
your father be burned" and such things., They 
swear by "Allah" who created everything from noth 
ing. A Mohammedan may swear to a falsehood in 
the name of "Allah" but his faith in God who creat- 
ed everything out of nothing is true and sincere. 
Along with the truth that they have there is a great 
deal of falsehood and error mixed, making their doc- 
trine and belief a very weak pillar for the support of 
the great structure of their religion and so its de- 
struction along with that of every other false or 
heathen religion is surely coming, and upon its ruins 
may yet be planted the standard of the cross. When 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 149 

they begin to understand the truth the truth shall 
make them free and instead of cursing their fellow 
man they may begin to understand something of the 
principle underlying the injunction that we should 
bless them that curse us. Let us hope that when 
that time comes they may then as now have no infi- 
dels among them as there are in this country but 
that all may be true believers. 

THE HIGHEK CLASSES OF MOHAMMEDANS. 

The higher classes of Mohammedans are the 
khans or landlords of whom we have already spoken. 
They hold in their possession almost all the lands in 
the kingdom of Persia besides controlling all the 
government affairs. In consequence they are very 
rich and live an easy life. Since their religion al- 
lows polygamy they marry several wives whom they 
are abundantly able to support and spend much of 
their time in their harems with their wives. When 
ever they wish to divorce one and marry another they 
can do so without any difficulty for there is no dis- 
grace whatever attached to such an act. But it is 
considered a great shame for a man to speak of any 
of his wives when in company with other men. They 
may speak of everything else but never allow their 
conversation to turn to their own domestic affairs. 
At their gatherings the subject they best like to dis- 
cuss is their religion and next to that is politics 
which they talk about with great enthusiasm. They 
know very little of history and their knowledge of 
art and philosophy is also quite limited. What 
little they do know of these latter subjects they have 
learned from the Europeans who are teachers and 



150 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



instructors in their principal cities and especially 
in their capital city Teheran. They have one weekly 
newspajjer published in Teheran which they of 
course read. If any one among them can quote or 
recite poetry in the course of their conversation he is 
much admired for they are great lovers of poetry. 
In this respect they think the Persian language ex- 
cels every other tongue. So musical is it and rich 
in idioms, rhymes and vowel sounds that Mohammed 
once said that he would ask that their language 
might be the language of Paradise. 




KHANS SMOKING, 



When a prominent man comes to visit certain 
persons that are gathered together, if he is of higher 
rank than they, as he enters they will all rise and 
continue standing until he is seated. Then they 



ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 151 

resume their seats and the visitor exchanges greet- 
ings by bowing to each one present according to his 
rank Immediately after this a water-pipe foi 
smoking is presented to him. Their pipes are so ar- 
ranged that the smoke goes through water first 
which purifies it before it is taken into the mouthy 
One pipe is used for several persons. When one 
has finished smoking, he passes it to the one who sits 
next to him and so on until all have smoked. When 
all have finished smoking, tea, coffee, or fruxt may 
he served. But suppose a dinner consisting of rice 
is to be served, then it is brought m on sum 1 copper 
travs. They begin eating at once, using a five fin- 
gers in doing so. Of course it is no at all uncom- 
mon among the people of that country to eat with 
their fingers, but to see a Mohammedan grasping 
whole handfuls and eating it is quite a sight. They 
use all five fingers because they say God has made 
them all and it is a sin to use some and not all of 
them. When they have eaten a servant will come 
with warm water, and, going to the person of highest 
rank, will hold an empty vessel before him in one 
nand, while with the other hand he will pour water 
upon the hands of the guest. When the guest of 
honor has thus washed his hands, the servant goes 
iu the same way to another and so on until all have 
washed their hands. Rice cooked as the Persians 
cook it is very much liked by the Turks and Arabs 
as well But thev detest the Persian way of eating 
it Mohammedans who can read and write always 
have a pair of scissors in the ink-case that they carry 
with them in their pockets. When they write a let- 



152 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ter, they always trim the margins of it, for a tradi- 
tion is current among them that if they did not cut 
the margins of their letters their wives would be un- 
true to them. Having put their letters into enve- 
lopes with their edges properly trimmed, they always 
seal them with a seal that most of them carry in their 
purses. 

There is even more immorality among the higher 
classes of Mohammedans than among the lower, 
because these have both the money and the unoccu- 
pied time to carry the wicked practices licensed by 
their religion to a greater and consequently a more 
debasing extent. They are ever ready to speak of 
the prostitutions of the "European infidels' 1 , but we 
have only to remind them of the terrible vices of 
which they are guilty right in their own homes. 
They also speak of the drunkenness of European 
Christians, and then we remind them of their own de- 
ceit and total lack of truthfulness. Their own re- 
marks bear witness against them in this, for they are 
often heard to say, "A Mohammedan by mistake may 
speak the truth," or "If a Mohammedan were a piece 
of gold, and you should find it, don't put it into your 
pocket for it will make a hole in your pocket and get 
away.' 1 Lying and deception are characteristics not 
only of those who are careless about their religion, 
but also of those who are the most devout disciples 
of their system, the priests themselves not being an 
exception to the rule. So common are these char- 
acteristics that it is very hard for them to trust their 
own friends and neighbors even. Such traits are the 
natural results of a religion founded upon falsehood. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
PRODUCTS AND METHODS OF DISPOSING OF THEM. 



153 



Dates, figs, pomegranates, peaches, apples, pears, 
plums, apricots, grapes, and nuts grow in abundance 
in Persia. The first grapes or fruit of any kind that 
ripens is taken by the gardner or servant to his mas- 
ter as a gift, whereupon his master gives him a pres- 
ent saying, "May the Almighty bless you and make 




GROCERY STORE. 

(From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. V.) 



The first 



you attain the first fruits that you desire." 
fruits are emblematic of new life. 

In the grocery stores may be found honey, mo- 
lasses, cheese, butter, oil, clabber, peas, beans, and 
rice together with all the fruits before mentioned, 
but no canned goods. All such stores are in the 



1"54 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

hands of the Mohammedans because Christians are an 
abomination of them so they will not buy any liquids 
handled by Christians. Should a man go to a shop- 
keeper early in the morning to buy something that 
cost only a few cents, the shop-keeper will refuse to 
take his copper money because he believes that if he 
should take copper money at the very beginning of 
the day he would have bad luck all day. On the 
other hand if he should be offered silver money early 
in the morning, he would be very happy because he 
believes that it will bring him good luck all day. 

In the western provinces of Persia, about forty 
different kinds of the best grapes grow, but they are 
not quite equal to the grapes that grow along some 
parts of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. The 
grapes, figs, and dates that grow there are not equal- 
ed anywhere. The best kinds of honey are also ex- 
ported from these valleys to all parts of the world, 
and are used for medicines, but unfortunately this 
interesting land that served as the cradle of the hu- 
man race and from which the good tidings of salva- 
tion and peace through Christ has spread all over the 
world is now in the hands of the terrible Turk, who 
sends out curses instead of blessings. Fine grapes 
grow in most parts of Persia, but they cannot be ex- 
ported fresh because there are no railroads. They 
can be carried for about forty miles on horseback, 
but when they have been thus carried they soon 
spoil. From grapes they make both wine and mo- 
lasses, but the most of them are dried, making rais 
ins. They cover a terrace or side hill with plaster 
made of clay mixed with chaff and upon this, they 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 155 

spread the ripe grapes to dry in the bright sunshine. 
When dry they export them by means of caravans to 
Russia. When persons are gathering grapes, the 
passers by greet them by saying, "May God give you 
blessings in your vineyard." When they pass by a 
man who is plowing they say, "May Bod give you 
strength." To both these greetings the laborers 
reply, "Welcome" or "Thank you." They raise very 
good wheat, barley, and millet. In order to tell if 
their wheat is good any year, they chew a few grains 
to see if it expands and becomes elastic. If so it is 
good wheat and dough made from it will also ex- 
pand and rise nicely. But if it does not expand 
when chewed it is poor wheat. 

Watermelons and muskmelons are also raised 
there, but they require a great deal of work. When 
a muskmelon is about twice the size of an egg, they 
bury it while it is still on the vine. By and by it 
grows so as to come on the surface again and is again 
buried and so on until it stops growing. They then 
lay it in the sun until it gets sweet and ready to be 
eaten. 

Tobacco as all know is among the most promi- 
nent products of Persia, so the Persians too have that 
very injurious habit of smoking, though to their 
credit be it said they never chew arid they use very 
little snuff. This is the story circulated among them 
as to the first use of tobacco: Once many, many 
years ago there was a very sick man whom the doc 
tors could not cure of his terrible disease, so he was 
cast out by his relatives into a lonely place where 
they hoped that he might die, and they in this way 



156 ABOUT PERSIA AJSD ITS PEOPLE. 

would get rid of him. He of course became very 
hungry, but there was nothing for him to eat. He 
found a plant, however, growing there, and that he 
ate because he was so desperately hungry that he 
could eat anything. By and by he began to like the 
taste of it, and he felt better too, so he kept on eat- 
ing it until he was entirely cured of his disease. He 




TOBACCO PLANTATION. 

then returned home to his people, who were astonish- 
ed to see him in perfect health and asked him what 
had cured him. He showed them the plant, which 
was tobacco. It is frequently mentioned in their old 
legends and songs, showing that while America 
claims the honor (?) of its introduction into civilized 
life, yet this noxious weed was known and used in 
Persia long before the discovery of America and the 
days of Sir Walter Ealeigh. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 157 

Every smoking man in Persia must have not only 
a pipe, but also a piece of flint, a piece of steel, and a 
supply of punk, or tinder in his pocket to start a fire 
to light his pipe. This primitive method of starting 
a fire is still in use there because matches are not yet 
manufactured there, and when they have to be im- 
ported they are more expensive than the punk. If 
a man who smokes should happen to have no tobacco 
and should meet a Turk and ask him for a smoke, 
the Turk if he himself smokes would at once ask him 
to show his pipe, flint, steel, punk, and tobacco bag, 
Should he find the man in possession of all v these 
things, he would know at once that he is a profes- 
sional smoker and would give him ^some tobacco. 
But if all these things are not found with him the 
Turk knows that he is only an occasional smoker and 
promptly tells him to go away or to put it literally 
he says, "Johanamal," "Go to hell." 

THE TURKISH WOLF AND THE AMERICAN FOX. 

The Turks are a most brutal people, coarse in 
language and inhuman in feeling. There is a 
proverb in Persia something like this: "There are 
foxes that cunningly eat or gnaw off the heads of 
people as well as wolves that do it openly." By 
wolves let us designate the Turks, by foxes the 
.American liquor dealers. Little attention has been 
paid so far to the foxes, but lately the eyes of the 
whole civilized and semicivilized world have been 
turned to the devastations made by the bloodthirsty 
wolves upon the defenceless Christians living under 
their tyrannical rule. This cruel bloodshed they 
have been repeating over and over again ever since 



158 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



their capture of Constantinople in the year 1453. 
Their whole history has been one of shame and 








SCENE FROM THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE, 

{From Riley Bros., N. Y.) 

bloodshed ever since its beginning. But the massa- 
cre of one hundred thousand Armenian Christians 
that began in 1894 has been more widely known than 
any of their previous acts of cruelty because there is 
at present more and quicker communication between 
all the nations of the earth than at any other time in 
the history of the world, and we hope now that God 
may soon raise up friends for his poor persecuted 
people, in these eastern lands, powerful enough to 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



159' 



deliver them from the terrible hands of their oppress- 
ors and slayers. 

It is impossible for us to describe the outrages 
practiced against the Nestorian and Armenian Chris- 
tians by the ferocious and barbarous Kurds employ- 
ed by the merciless Turks for the extermination of 
the Christians in their midst. The Kurds often 
shoot a Christian just for sport to prove their skill 




KURDS FROM THE KURDISTAN MOUNTAINS. 

as marksmen and to see how a human being dies. 
Yet they profess to know "Allah, the Creator of the- 
universe whose judgments are righteous and believe 
that He will be merciful to them for thus destroying 
infidels as they call Christians. 

Usually in the fall when the corn and fruits have 
been gathered in these Kurds invade the territory of 
the Nestorian Christians in the Kurdistan moun- 



160 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

tains and of the Armenian Christians in Armenia 
They sweep right down upon the Christian villages 
on their fiery steeds and should anyone dare oppose 
them they would shoot him down on the spot. Then 
they take off the cattle and carry away corn and 
fruit enough to last them during the whole winter, 
leaving the poor Christians who have toiled so hard 
for it destitute of the very necessaries of life and 
compelling them to live on roots and herbs during 
the winter, while the government complacently 
looks on. 

Before coming to this country I had heard much 
of it as a free and Christian country, and the thought 
of it made my heart swell with joy, not so much on 
account of its liberty as its Christianity which had 
made its liberty possible. For after all it is the gos- 
pel of Christ that lays the foundation for all true 
human freedom. I am thankful indeed to the kind 
Christian friends who have helped me to come to 
America and live here for a time, to become ac- 
quainted with the language and the people of this 
country and to enjoy its freedom. I acknowledge 
that it is the best country in the world, and its gov- 
ernment is a living example and a wonder to all the 
natives of the earth. But during the years of my 
sojourn here I have been pained to see the destruc- 
tion that is be ing made upon the very life of the 
country by these sly American foxes. Through their 
obedience to the erroneous teachings of the Moham- 
medan religion, the Turkish wolves plunder the Ar- 
menian Christians, and destroy their happy homes 
and leave their families in a most miserable condi- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 161 

tion. But the American foxes through their love of 
the almighty dollar distill and through the saloons 
deal out to the people the liquors that just as surely 
destroy the happy homes in this country, leaving 
their families hungry and destitute and finally kill- 
ing their victims. The Turkish wolves kill thousands 
of innocent victims, but their victims have a sure 
hope of the life to come, while the victims of the 
American foxes are destroyed body and soul, for 
time and for eternity. Which of the two are the 
worse? I have read the statement that from sixty 
to seventy-five thousand people die annually in this 
country from the liquor habit. If this is true, then 
just as the Turkish government is responsible for the 
lives, property, and happiness of its subjects, so is 
the government of this country responsible for the 
lives, property, and happiness of its people. The 
people of this country should require their govern- 
ment to "take the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil 
the vines," before the whole Adneyard has been laid 
waste. 

NOMADIC PERSIANS. 

Over a million of the population of Persia live in 
tents. Some of them live in separate, isolated re- 
gions, and have their own chiefs who are responsible 
for them to the Persian government. Others of 
them pitch their tents together, forming a communi- 
ty or village and live quite an honorable life. Cattle 
raising is their principal occupation. From the wool 
of camels and sheep they make carpets, rugs, sacks, 
and tents. The latter are usually made of black or 
brown wool. They do a great deal of milking and 



162 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



sell large quantities of cheese, butter, and milk. 
They do not milk the camels, but eat their meat in- 
stead. The price of a camel among them varies 




TENT DWELLERS. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

from thirty to one hundred and fifty dollars, the 
price depending upon the size and quality of the ani- 
mal. They keep very fierce, cross dogs to defend 
them from the ravenous wolves that infest the coun- 
try. During the dry season of summer, they move 
with their herds to places where they can find plenty 
of water and grass. In the fall they come back to 
their old tenting place again. Their dishes are made 
principally of copper because that will not break in 
moving from place to place. Bottles of skin are also 
indispensable to them. Their oven or fire-place con- 
sists simply of a hole in the ground in the center of 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 163 

the tent. They bake their bread upon a concave 
plate of copper about two feet in diameter. 
The concave side is placed over the coals of fire, while 
upon the convex or outer side they bake very thin, 
but very delicious loaves of bread. Instead of a 
table they simply spread a cloth upon the ground. 

Hand-mills are common among them, and some- 
times small metal mortars are found in their tents. 
For lighting they use tallow candles, castor oil, and 
kerosene. Some of them have elegant tents cur- 
tained off into several rooms. The smell of smoke 
is however, always present in them all. These 
nomads are unusually strong and healthy. They are 
kind, generous, and hospitable when kindly treated 
or when not ill treated, but woe to the man who of- 
fends them or mistreats them. For when wronged 
they are cruel and revengeful beyond all reason. 
They carry with them the memory of an unavenged 
wrong for years, seeking an opportunity to avenge 
themselves. They always carry swords with them, 
and never think of going out without a good sub- 
stantial club in their hand. They also use guns, 
and many of them are excellent hunters. They are 
especially skillful in fighting with clubs. When em- 
ployed in the military service they always dis- 
tinguish themselves. Their women, too, are very 
strong and courageous. In case of necessity they 
can take clubs and fight also. They are exceedingly 
fond of jewelry and ornaments, and wear many 
charms and glittering trinkets. They frequently 
tattoo their faces, hands, and feet. Few of their 
numbers are able to read. There are very few in- 



164 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

telligent ones among them. As a rule they are ig- 
norant, superstitious, and stern in character. They 
revere above all other men doctors of medicine. 
This is possibly due to the fact that they see so few 
of them. Their principal musical instrument is the 
flute, which is very common among them. They 
sing love songs, accompanying their singing with 
the most barbarous tunes on the flute. 

Most prominent among them in point of bravery 
and enterprise are those who raise camels. They 
lead the caravans of camels from one end of the coun- 
try to the other without the least fear. Should their 
caravan be attacked by highwaymen who would rob 
them of their load, these caravan men simply have 
their camels kneel down, forming a breastwork for 
them while they stand behind shooting the robbers. 
Should the robbers shoot they would strike the 
camels, which would be of no service to them. This 
they seldom do for there is no use in killing the 
dumb animals. The camel has been called the "ship 
of the desert.-' With equal propriety the caravan 
might be called a "fleet." 

These tent dwellers do most of their traveling and 
moving through the mountains in the night time 
when it is cool. To them the mountains are their 
dwelling houses, and the deserts their courtyards. 
Their love of this mode of life is born in them, and 
their methods are as old as the human race. They 
regard their manner of living vastly freer and hap- 
pier than that of those engaged in agriculture, or 
in any other pursuit for that matter. 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



165 



PERSIAN SNAKE CHARMERS. 

Snake charming has been known and practiced 
for thousands of years. In western Asia at present 
it is practiced by the Mohammedans, who believe 
that it is done through the spirit power. They are 
especially proud of their knowledge and skill, and 
regard it as a gift imparted to them through their 
religion, and practiced through the aid of some 
spirits or genii. They boast that Christians do not 




SN4KE CHARMERS. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N V.) 



possess such power. The Christians in turn believe 
that this power is derived from the devil himself. 



166 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Some claim that this strange power is hereditary in 
certain families, and that snakes never bite them. 
The Mohammedans ascribe nearly all magical power 
to their religion. 

Snake charmers are a very cruel, savage, hard- 
hearted class of people. They curse, and swear, 
and revile, using the coarsest and foulest language 
imaginable. By their very wickedness they seem to 
exercise an influence in overcoming the ugly reptiles. 

Sometimes these charmers find snakes that do 
not want to hear their voice. So David speaks of 
the wicked, "They go astray as soon as they be born, 
speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a 
serpent; they are like a deaf adder that stoppeth her 
ear; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, 
charming never so wisely. Ps. lviii. 3-5. As an in- 
stance, a large, red snake once came into a house, 
and no one could kill it. A charmer was summoned; 
who spoke for a long time to the snake, but could not 
make him obey. Finally he went very close to the 
snake, whereupon the snake bit the charmer, who 
died instantly. Another charmer of superior power 
was then called. He put a piece of thick felt around 
his body so the snake could not bite him. He then 
spoke to the snake for a long time without any ap- 
parent effect. Finally the snake yielded and the 
charmer took it in his hands. It at once became 
very obedient. The charmer then killed it. 

Some snakes, however, are very easily charmed. 
For instance if a charmer sees a hole in which he 
supposes there is a snake, he will stand over the hole 
and utter some incantation in the Arabic language, 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 167 

whereupon the snake will come out. The charmer 
will then pick it up in his hand and put it in His 
bosom. The snake will do him no harm. 

In the public squares of Persian cities charmers 
may often be seen with a great number of different 
kinds of snakes in boxes. He will talk about them 
taking up one snake at a time and telling the char- 
acteristics of each, how it bites, how it lives and 
where it lives. The Mohammedans regard a snake 
charmer as a holy man whom even the venomous 
snakes, the universal enemies of mankind, obey. 
Therefore superstitious people who have been sick 
believe that snake charmers can cure them by their 
magical power which has been imparted to them by 
the Imams or Mohammedan pontiffs. I have seen 
them come to a snake charmer who took a poisonous 
red snake and held it close to the nose of a sick man 
and told it in plain language to take blood from the 
nose of the sick man but not to infuse any poison 
into it ending his instructions to it by saying, u $nake 
if you put poison into him, by Allah, I will kill you." 
Then the snake took hold of the nose of the sick man 
and gave it a few gentle jerks, so that the blood came, 
and then let go without infusing any poison into it". 
Atfer that the charmer took a knife and opening the 
snakes mouth struck its fangs with the blade telling 
it at the same time to cast its poison. The snake 
obeyed casting its poison on the blade of the knife, 
whereupon the charmer licked it off with his tongue 
and spit it out saying to the spectators as he did so. 
"See, it does not hurt me." The sick man then paid 
him his doctor bill of two cents, but of course he was 



168 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

not cured at all. 

Charmers sometimes tie a chicken's feet and put 
it into a box with a lot of snakes over which he exer- 
cises his power. Then he tells the snakes that they 
must not bite that chicken and none of them then 
dares do it. After he has talked awhile to demon- 
strate his power over them he will say to one of the 
snakes, "Now snake you must bite that chicken." 
His commands are at once obeyed by the snake desig- 
nated and the chicken immediately dies. 

The snake charmers talk to snakes as if they were 
talking to human beings. 

I have seen a charmer take a piece of iron and 
making it red hot, and uttering some incantation, 
place it upon his tongue without its burning him. 
Some suppose that he puts some chemicals upon his 
tongue to prevent its burning but this can not be be 
cause they are totally ignorant and have no know- 
ledge of drugs. Such doctors among the Moham- 
medans have neither medicine nor any knowledge 
of it. 

Magical arts and the communication with evil 
spirits do much for the promotion of the Moham- 
medan religion. Christians, however, in all lands 
know that such powers are not God-given and that 
such practices are always harmful and never helpfuL 

Snake charming as practiced in this country is. 
entirely different from that of Asiatic countries. In 
this country they either use snakes that never bite 
anyhow or else they drug them or extract their fangs 
rendering them harmless. 



ABOUT PERSIA AXD ITS PEOPLE. 



169 



DERVISHES. 

Dervishes, or Mohammedan monks indulge wild 
and extravagant notions of religion and believe that 
through the mortification of the body they will win 




DERVISHES, OR MOHAMMEDAN MONKS. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

the favor of God. To these fanatics this present ma- 
terial body has no value because it is destined after 
death to become a prey to worms. The inflicting of 
wounds and the deadening of the body to pain is con- 
sidered by them to be of great merit. Asceticism is 
a praise-worthy part of their virtuous life. Much 
honor and praise are accorded them by men for this 
commendable (?) mode of life, and they are very 
similar in their motives and character to the Phari- 
sees whom our Lord mentions as loving to stand and 



170 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

pray on the corners of the streets that they may be 
seen of men. Upon certain days these fanatical der- 
vishes appear upon the public squares of the city and 
whirl round and round with a wonderful rapidity 
until they are excited to the highest degree. They 
are then supposed to be inspired by the divine spirit 
and spectators gather all around them. One of them 
may then be seen to take the sharp point of a dagger 
and strike it upon his naked stomach. Although 
he seems to strike very hard it aparently does not 
hurt him and he thus pretends that he is protected 
by an invisible power. Another one may stick pieces 
of metal into his naked body, especially into his 
breast hoping thereby to obtain atonement for his 
sins. They think there is no better way to secure 
the salvation of the soul from the guilt of sin. An- 
other one may beat upon his breast with a large 
piece of chain in a most incredible manner until the 
blood gushes from it. 

It is very hard for the spectators to understand 
how any human being can stand such horrible self- 
imposed and st^lf -inflicted .torture. 

Others of them take large pieces of stone and 
pound upon their naked breasts until they are black 
and blue. Some sing a chant and cry ? "Ya hak! Ya 
Allah!" "O righteous! O God!" and renew their 
exercises with greater violence than before and hold 
ing each others hands dance in a most grotesque and 
astonishing manner until they become thoroughly 
excited. Then they begin whirling again and muti- 
lating their bodies in various ways peculiar to them. 
Then some of them fall down upon the ground and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 171 

spin about like a wheel and finally get to foaming 
at their mouths until they become entirely exhaust- 
ed, and then lie as though they were half dead, 
They are then rewarded for this meritorious per- 




FANATICAL MOHAMMEDANS. 

{From T.H. McAllister. Optician, N. Y.) 

formance by a collection taken up among the spec- 
tators. No ladies are to be seen on such occasions. 

In Persia there are no opera houses, or theatres, 
or theatrical performances except such as have just 
been described and for these the streets and public 
squares serve them as stages. 

MODES OF PUNISHMENT. 

The following modes of punishment are practiced 
in Persia at the present time: 



172 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

1st. By poisoning. This is the form of capital 
punishment inflicted by the shah or king of Persia 
upon his officers of highest rank, such as princes, 
prime-ministers, and governors. When such an one 
has been unfortunate enough to be convicted of a 
certain crime which calls for the infliction of capital 
punishment the shah simply sends him a glass of 
some deadly poison by the hand of one of his officers. 
When this is presented to him by an officer of the 
king there is nothing for him to do but to take it, 
drink it and die right on the spot. Formerly they 
used to pluck out the eyes of a convicted man as a 
punishment. 

2nd. By beheading. This is a very common 
method of inflicting capital punishment. The royal 
family are of course endowed with full authority to 
put a crimianl to death in whatever wav they see fit. 
But to other officers that the shah appoints, such as 
governors of the different states or provinces, whom 
he wishes to authorize to inflict capital punishment, 
he gives a peculiarly made knife which is the symbol 
of their power to behead criminals such as mur- 
derers and highway robbers. Every one who has 
such authority vested in him has to find one or two 
executioners who are most cruel and have no natural 
human feelings, who can cut off the heads of human 
beings as they would cut off the heads of chickens. 
These executioners are easily recognized because they 
have to wear red clothes. The people look upon 
them with a great deal of horror, and they are in- 
deed hard men. Some blame them for their in- 
human character while others say they serve a good 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



173 



purpose for by disabling thieves and robbers and 
exterminating murderers they make it possible for 
people to live in peace and safety. 

When the sentence of death has been pronounced 
by the chief governor upon a criminal, then a cap- 
tain accompanied by a band of his soldiers will go to 
the filthy prison of the doomed man, who since his 




A PRISON SCENE. 

imprisonment has not had a bath or his clothes 
changed, a shave or his hair cut. Thus deprived of 
everything that could make him look at all respect- 
able, it is no wonder if he looks uncanny and horrible. 
The band of soldiers surround him, the cruel execu- 
tioner with his red clothes on and a bloody knife in 
his hand leads the way as they march to the city 
square where a crowd of curious spectators have al- 
ready assembled. After the soldiers have made the 



174 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

crowd retreat a few paces, the condemned man with 
his hands chained is made to kneel down and the 
executioner with his keen knife severs his head from 
his body. Once I heard that in the city of Oroomiah 
when an executioner had beheaded a Kurd in this 
way while his body lay there lashing the ground in 
dying his head kept jumping up and falling down 
beside it for quite* a while. 

The death sentence is thus publicly executed, not 
to gratify the curosity of the populace, nor yet from 
a lack of human feeling but in order to frighten 
those who would otherwise be criminals into lead 
ing honest lives. When there are many thieves, 
highway robbers, and murderers and one is caught 
and beheaded the governor will command that the 
body be left for two or three days in the public 
square so that every one that passes by may see it 
and be afraid to do wrong. 

Some years ago a number of thieves were captur- 
ed and beheaded in the city of Oroomiah and the 
governor ordered their bodies to be severed in two 
and a piece hung over each gate of the city so that 
every one who came into the city or went out of it 
should see this and be afraid to do wrong. 

3rd. By blowing to pieces by a cannon. This 
method of inflicting punishment expresses the hein- 
ousness of the crime and the swiftness of vengeance 
upon such. The criminal is brought and bound se- 
curely to the mouth of a cannon and then an artillery 
man fires it; thus blowing the criminal to atoms. 

4th. By hanging. This sentence is executed 
much as it is in this country. The gallows consists 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



175 



of two posts with a cross beam on top from which 
the criminal is suspended by means of a rope fasten- 
ed around his neck. 

5th. Bv vaults. These are built of brick in the 




PUNISHMENT BY HANGING. 

(From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y. 

shape of a barrel and as deep as a man's height. A 
man who is sentenced to this form of punishment is 
brought and placed in the vault with his head ex- 
posed. He is then plastered down with mortar all 
around him. This hardens and he is squeezed to 
death. 

6th. By cutting off the hands. A bad thief 
when caught for the first time may have one of his 
hands taken off. Should he not stop stealing then 
and should he be caught a second time his other 
hand may. be cut off. When the governor has pro- 



176 ABOUT PERSIA AXD ITS PEOPLE. 

nouneed this sentence upon a criminal the soldiers 
will conduct him to the city square led by the execu- 
tioner carrying his knife in his hand. A quantity of 
butter will also be boiled and made ready and the 
place will be surrounded by a crowd of curious peo- 
ple eager to see the proceedings. As soon as the 
executioner has cut off the thief's hand, he dips his 
arm several times into the boiling butter to make it 
stop bleeding. Afterwards the thief is set at liberty. 
The executioner then goes to all the shop-keepers one 
after another. Each shop-keeper will give him a 
penny or two for his heroic act of cutting off th« 
hands pr the heads of the thieves or murderers thus 
disabling evil-doers and exterminating the murder- 
ers of the country thereby insuring them peace. 

7th. By cutting off an ear. This is a very sim- 
ple and insignificant form of punishment, inflicted 
also by the executioner. 

8th. By torturing. In order to exact a confes- 
sion of guilt or have a prisoner turn states evidence 
this punishment is employed. For instance, once 
there were a number of robbers who dug a hole 
through the sun dried brick wall of the residence of 
a wealthy Mohammedan and carried off a great part 
of his costly furniture. Shortly afterwards one of 
them was captured and imprisoned. Once every 
day the officers of the government used to take him 
out into the market place and standing all around 
him they beat him with thick whips at the same time 
telling him to give them the names of his accom- 
plices. Upon his refusal to do so they struck him 
all the harder and faster but still he refused. So 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 177 

they kept on for an hour or so when he fainted and 
was taken back to prison. In this way he was 
treated for many days but still refused to tell and 
then they beheaded him. 

Some years ago they used to drive sharp pieces of 
dry re ed under the finger nails of criminals or de- 
prive them of sleep until they would confess their 
crimes and give the names of their accomplices 

9th. By the bastinado. This is the most com- 
mon form of punishment in Persia and one that al- 




THE BASTINADO. 

most every one is liable to receive at some time or 
other. There are different kinds and sizes of bas- 
tinadoes in different places but the most common 

her r^ • ° ne ? nSiStS ° f a beam "»ke P^ce of tim- 

wl7 « IS ra - Sed ab ° Ut two feet above the ground. 
When the magistrate has given orders to have this 



178 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

punishment inflicted upon some offender, for in- 
stance upon some one for striking another and hurt- 
ing him, or may be for using bad language, then the 
magistrate's servants take the offender and laying 
him down take off his shoes and stockings and bind 
his feet to the piece of timber. Then one servant 
standing on the right side and another on the left, 
each with a flexible stick in his hand, begin striking 
the soles of the offender's bare feet bv turns. 
Whether this punishment is mild or severe depends 
entirely upon those who execute it. If they are nat- 
urally cruel they will strike very hard so that the 
criminal's cries rend the air and the blood gushes 
from his feet, but if they are naturally kind and mer- 
ciful they will raise their hands very high and pre- 
tend to strike very hard while in truth they are doings 
it as lightly as they can. Still the soles of the feet 
hurt badly enough any way. When they have ad- 
ministered this punishment for a while some one 
may intercede for the offender, whereupon he will 
be fined and released. 

This punishment when properly administered 
does good in many instances. Often it humbles bad, 
obstinate persons and makes them reasonable and 
obedient. 

10th. By whipping. In this they lay the crim- 
inal down. One man holds his feet, another, his 
head while one stands on each side of him and beats 
him on his back by turns. When their switches 
break they take others, for there are always a sup- 
ply of them kept in the magistrate's court yard in a 
pool of water to keep them soft. When they have 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 179 

whipped the criminal long enough to satisfy their 
ideas of justice they fine him and let him go. 

When they are whipping a person on the back 
each stroke hurts worse than the one before, but 
when it is the feet they are striking they become 
rather dull or numb and less sensitive to pain with 
each stroke. After a day or so, however, they grow 
quite painful. 

A good many of these methods of punishment 
have been softened a little lately but at the same 
ratio the fines and bribes have increased. 

For the punishment of women there are three 
methods in common use varying in severity accord 
ing to the crimes of which they are guilty. Women, 
however, do not very often have to be punished but 
when they do their punishments are both cruel and 
humilating as most punishments are. 

When the death sentence has been passed upon a 
woman she is placed in a sack which is tied shut 
above her head just as if it were filled with grain. 
In this shape she is taken out into the place of exe- 
cution and stabbed with spears or daggers until she 
dies. 

Another form of punishment is inflicted particu- 
larly upon very bad girls or young women by put- 
ting them into sacks as has already been described 
and then having them beaten with sticks. 

Still another form is inflicted by shaving all the 
beautiful long hair on which the women of that coun- 
try pride themselves, from the head of the woman 
to be, punished then painting her face black they 
compel her to ride through the streets on a donkey 



180. ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

sitting with her face turned backward. 

INCONSISTENT MOHAMMEDANS. 

The Mohammedans are very careful as to what 
they eat. As has been stated before very few of 
them will eat bread baked by the hands of Chris- 
tians while thousands of them would consider it a 
sin to even touch the bread of Christians but they re- 
gard it no sin whatever to cheat a Christian or steal 
from him anything they can lay their hands on for 
they do not know the Christian's commandment, 
"Thou shalt not steal." 

In Asiatic Russia two Mohammedans once met 
two Armenian Christians on the road. Unwitting- 
ly one of the Mohammedans greeted the Armenian 
Christian as if he were a Mohammedan saying, 
"Salam-Alakum," "Peace be unto you." When he 
discovered his mistake he was angry beyond all ex- 
pression and demanded that the Christian should 
give him back his salutation because they never greet 
Christians as they do their own number. Of course 
this was impossible, the Christian could not return 
to him his words. Still the Mohammedan kept tell- 
ing him to do so until the Christian became so angry 
that he took his club and began using that on him. 
Then the Mohammedan fled and the Christian told 
him that now he had his greeting back. 

In Asiatic Russia near the dividing line between 
Russia, Turkey, and Persia where the Mohammedans 
are powerless, once an Armenian Christian was 
driving a herd of swine for a long distance. In the 
evening he reached a village half of whose inhabi- 
tants were Christians and the other half Moham- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 181 

medans consequently there was a Christian church 
and a Mohammedan mosque, or temple. He put his 
drove of hogs into the ruins of an old uninhabited 
house for the night. After the people of the village 
had all gone to bed and every thing was quiet the 
hogs began to feel dissatisfied with their lodging 
place, in regular hog style, and began wandering 
about the streets of the village hunting for better 
quarters when accidentally they came to the Mo- 
hammedan temple and finding the door open they 
went in and made themselves quite at home there 
for the remainder of the night. Early the next 
morning a Mohammedan priest came to the temple 
to worship and was shocked to find it full of hogs. 
He smote his head and cried aloud and the people 
gathered around him and drove the hogs out of the 
temple. The Mohammedans, however, would never 
use the temple any more but razed it to the ground 
and built a new one in its stead. 

There is nothing so abominable to Mohammedans 
as hogs because it is said that once Mohammed was 
sleeping out doors and one of these filthy animals 
came around him. Turning over he got the filth it 
left on his clothing. When he awoke he found his 
clothes all dirty and vile, and for this he cursed the 
hog in general. Since then the hog has become to 
all Mohammedans the most hateful of animals and 
as a consequence there are no hogs in Persia. The 
Christians being so few in number cannot keep them. 
Whenever it is talked of the Christian natives of 
Europe coming and building railroads in Persia, the 
Mohammedan priests oppose it most bitterly saying 



182 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



that if the European infidels come they will bring 
with them their terrible hogs and defile us and our 
religion. 




GROUP OF MOHAMMEDAN PRIESTS. 

The Mohammedans who live under the Russian 
government gather in their temples crying and pray- 
ing that "Allah" may deliver them from the infidel 
Russian rule. There are many among them, how- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 183 

ever, that really like the Kussian government. 

Once a number of wild hogs came down from the 
mountains to a little mountain and half of the people 
of my village went after them and finally succeeded 
in killing one. When it was brought to the village 
everybody was out to see what kind of an animal it 
was but the people thronged the streets so that all 
could not see. Then a man took it and went upon 
a house top and held it down in the street so that 
everybody could see it. That was the first time E 
ever saw a hog. Many of the people got about an 
ounce each of its fat for medicine. The Christians 
there use lard for the cure of rheumatism. They 
rub it well into the affected part and^then lie in the 
sunshine. 

Sometimes when the Mohammedans get angry 
with any one who has been in Europe they say, 4 'Get 
away, you dirty thing, you have gone to Europe and 
eaten pork." According to their law a Moham- 
medan must be punished very severely if he should 
eat pork and they would call him an infidel Chris- 
tian, but if he should rob or kill a Christian he is all 
right, there is no sin in that. And if he should take 
a Christian woman by force and dishonor her, that 
is no sin. Once a Mohammedan Kurd saw a Nes- 
torian Christian asleep in the hot sun and made a 
shadow fall upon him saying, "Mohammed has so 
commanded. Let him lie still and rest because the 
rest will make him the stronger to work for the Mo- 
hammedans." 

During the massacre of the Armenians in Turkey 
the Persian Mohammedans saw that the Christian 



184 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

nations of the world took no steps to punish Turkey 
for her atrocity, so they said, "The Turks killed so/ 
many thousands of Christians yet the European in- 
fidels did nothing to the Turks. If we should kill, 
these Armenian and Nestorian dogs what woul^L 
they do to us?" They held many meetings in their 
mosque to discuss the question of exterminating the 
Christians in their land, too, but after all decided not 
to because as they said, "These Christians are our 
sheep." Whenever a Christian dreams of being bit- 
ten by a dog he interpets it to mean that in the morn- 
ing a Mohammedan will give him trouble. Moham 
medans ask Christians questions thus trying to en- 
tangle them and get them into trouble. When a 
Christian on his way meets a Mohammedan whom 
he knows to be a bad man and in consequence does 
not salute him, then the Mohammedan if he wishes 
to annoy him will say, "Why did you not greet me? ' 
With this for a pretext the Mohammedan will hold 
him guilty and give him some blows. Sometimes 
they go so far as to say that if a Christian riding on 
horseback should meet a Mohammedan he should 
dismount and salute the Mohammedan and after the 
latter has passed by the Christian may be allowed to 
ride on his way again. This of course is only claim- 
ed but they cannot enforce such an absurd thing. 
It is claimed upon the basis that the Mohammedans 
are such vastly superior beings because they are- 
Allah's own people while the Christians belonging 
to such an inferior order of beings should pay them 
homage. 

When traveling it may often happen that Chris- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 185 

itans and Mohammedans may meet at the same 
brook or spring of water to eat their dinner In 
such a case the Christians must always sit below 
and the Mohammedans at a safe distance up the 
stream so that the Christians may not defile the 
water for them. 

SOME MOHAMMEDAN SUPERSTITIONS. 

When a man is very sick they bathe him in order 
to make the angels pass by him. 

When a number of persons are sitting together if 
one should start to walk around them they will say 
Do not walk around us for if you do our calamities 
will fall upon you." 

You must not eat bread with girls for if you do 
no beard will ever grow on your face. 

If you lick dishes your sweet-heart will be beau- 
tiful. 

When a child is born they throw a man's trousers 
npon him so that the deyils may not take him away 

When children haye whooping-cough they say, 
trive them donkey's milk to drink." 

They never leave children alone for if they do 
devils will nurse them. 

Take a dead snake by the tail and throw it be- 
hind you. If it falls upon its back then either your 
mother or your wife will give birth to a girl, or to a 
boy if it falls with its back up. 

If you pass over an instrument of any kind it will 
become heavy and not work well. 

If you whistle during the night devils will come 
and choke you. 

Do not taste food while you are cooking it for if 



186 ABOUT PERSIA AXD ITS PEOPLE. 

you do it will not taste good afterwards. 

During the night when you get up to drink water 
put your hand upon your head because devils will 
butt you. 

Take a little flat stone and write upon it the 
names of yourself and your mother, your sweetheart 
and her mother, and cast it into the fire. As it grows 
hot so will your love and your sweetheart's grow hot 
toward each other. 

Mohammedan shoe-makers never make an odd 
shoe because if they did their wives would die. 

If ladies are sitting on either side of the road a 
Mohammedan man will never pass between them 
for he would fall into a ditch if he did. 

If you wish to keep a cat so that it will never 
leave you take a little stick and measure its tail then 
place the stick in the air duct of the oven and the cat 
will never leave your premises. 

When you have a blister on your tongue rub your 
hand upon the head of a first born child. That will 
cure the blister. 

Bind a horn upon the handle of your churn and 
you will get much butter. 

In the early spring when people see for the first 
time a stork coming from Arabia to Persia they look 
down. If they find a white hair it means that they 
will not die until they have reached a good old age. 
If they find a black hair they will die young. 

They say when dogs howl it is because they see 
angels. 

If a man should eat the loaf of bread that is baked 
first his wife will die. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 187 

They say it is a sin to blow out a lamp. 
They out the tails of their dogs to make their 
necks grow thick . 

SAYINGS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ASSYRIAN OR NES- 
TORIAN CHRISTIANS. 

You must not drink water on Sunday evening be- 
fore the lamp is lighted because then no one would 
give water to your dead friends. 

If you rub dust from a church upon a wart it will 
disappear. 

On Sunday evenings Christians light the lamps 
in their houses very early because they think it is a 
sin if the corners of their houses become dark on Sun- 
day. 

Every time the Nestorian Christians light a lamp 
in their houses they say, "Glory be to God and 
Christ!" 

To make a man stop hiccoughing they say to him, 
"You have stolen church tapers." 

When they see a cat washing her face they say 
that guests are coming to them. 

When guests have eaten they thank their host by 
saying, "May God increase your riches. May God 
bless your table and may his blessings be in it. May 
it be as the table of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
May it increase and not decrease.'' 

When any one receives anything or eats a meal 
and does not return thanks for it, they call him a 
Kurd or a Mohammedan. 

They say, "First cook your words in jour heart, 
then speak them." 

When anyone is cracking nuts and finds one with 



188 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

two kernels they say, "Your mother or your wife will 
have twins." 

When two Nestorian Christians have been angry 
with each other and their friends have urged them 
to become reconciled and they agree to it and shake 
hands their reconciliation is not considered genuine^ 
but if they kiss each other it is thought to be genuine. 

If a disagreement should arise between two 
brothers when they are going to separate and divide 
their property, then to bring about peace between 
them they will tell them the following story: Once 
there were two brothers who were going to separate 
and divide their property. One of them was mar- 
ried, the other single. In their threshing floor they 
had a quantity of wheat which they had divided 
equally between them. Afterwards the married 
brother thought to himself, "now my brother is just 
going to start a new house so he will need more than 
I." Then at night he went and took a quantity of 
wheat from his own share and put it upon his broth- 
er's. The single brother thought, "My brother is mar- 
ried and has a family to support and so he needs 
more wheat than I do." So in the darkness of the 
night he went to the threshing floor and took a 
quantity of wheat from his own part and put it upon 
his brother's share. God who saw the sincerity of 
their love for each other was much pleased and in- 
creased the property of both the brothers. 

When they are dealing with a greedy person 
they will say, "Do not be like the adz and always 
cut toward yourself. Sometimes be like scissors 
and cut on both sides." 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 180 

When they dream that one of their teeth is pull- 
ed they believe that one of their relatives will die. 

When they dream of seeing a bier it is considered 
a good omen. 

When they dream of eating meat they believe 
that some one has been back-biting them. 

When they dream of winding yarn they say that 
some of their relatives in a foreign country are com- 
ing home. 

To dream of eating raisins signifies whisperings. 

Seeing bees in a dream indicates riches. 

To dream that one is carrying a load of hay also 
indicates riches. 

To dream of eating grapes presages sorrow and 
the flowing of tears. 

To dream of buffaloes fighting means that angels 
will come for the soul of some member of the family. 
(The noise of the crowds when buffaloes fight is 
dreadful — as bad as the sound of the fire alarms in 
this country.) 

To see a child in ones dreams fortells good tid- 



*v 



mgs. 



When they dream of being bitten by a dog it 
means that the Mohammedans will give them 
trouble. 

PRAYER AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 

Prayer is the pillar of the Mohammedan religion 
and the power by which the gates of paradise are to 
be thrown open to the faithful. They must pray 
five times each day according to the precepts laid 
down in the Koran, nor must they ever allow any- 
thing to distract their thoughts to such an extent 



190 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

that they forget their prayers at the set time. 

I once heard a Persian dervish who was in com- 
pany with an Arabian dervish, say that if from any 
canse the Arabian dervish should allow the set time 
for his prayers to pass by without praying he would 
cry like a child. This he does of course to show 
what a good Mohammedan he is. There is probably 
no other religion at present that has so much hy- 
pocrisy and external show mixed in with it as the 
Mohammedan religion. If the Jews have lost any of 
their laws for purification the Mohammedans have 
surely found them. Many of their forms for purl 
fication and ablution are somewhat similar to those 
of the Jews because Mohammed in many respects 
imitated the teachings of Moses. He said to his fol- 
lowers, "O true believers, no matter where you are 
when you prepare yourselves to pray wash your 
faces and your hands up to your elbows and rub 
your heads and your feet up to the ankles; then turn 
your faces toward the holy temple of Kaaba at 
Mecca." Mohammedans always remember this and 
at whatever place they are, they find out immediate- 
ly in what direction Mecca is located and then turn 
their faces toward it when they pray. Mohammed 
no doubt got this idea from the Old Testament with 
which he was quite well acquainted. Every one who 
reads this will doubtless recall how during the long 
captivity of Judah, Daniel had the windows of his 
chamber looking toward Jerusalem opened and al- 
ways when he prayed turned his face toward the holy 
temple. 

Mohammedans do not use bells upon their tern- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 191 

pies but at the regular hours for prayer their priest 
goes up upon the roof of their mosque and putting 
his right fore-finger into his right ear he cries with 
a very loud and dreadful voice saying, "God is 
great! God is great! Come to prayer! Come to 
the house of refuge!" This crier is called the Muez- 
zin. When Mohammedans hear this they put their 
hands upon their faces and say, "Glory be to God!" 
Those that are near the mosque go there to worship. 
Usually there is a fountain of water in their temple 
court. Every one stops there, turns back the wide 
sleeves of his coat to the elbows and putting his 
right hand into the water repeats the name of 
"Allah." Then he washes his hands and arms up 
to the elbows, his face and the insides of his ears and 
then his feet. It is customary for every one to take 
off his shoes at the door and enter the mosque bare- 
footed. Almost every worshipper has a seal of 
Mecca which is about the size of a half dollar and is 
made of clay. This inscription is found on it, "There 
is no god but God." The worshipper turns his face 
toward Mecca, places his seal on the floor in front of 
him, stands erect opens his hands and raises them 
to his head. After uttering a few words he kneels 
down and presses his brow for a few moments upon 
his seal, at the same time uttering some short pe- 
tition. Then he kisses his seal and stands erect. 
Afterwards he puts his fore-fingers into his ears, then 
bends forward putting his hands upon his knees and 
again he stands erect. He then makes some other 
gestures repeating at each gesture some short peti- 
tion or sentence of praise. It should also be stated 



192 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

here that they use rosaries in their devotions. 

In the midst of their prayers they often stop for a 
few minutes to speak a few words to those standing- 
nearest them. For instance, if the worshipper hap- 
pens to be fond of smoking he may make some re- 
marks about tobacco or smoking to his friend near 
by and then continues his prayers right where he left 
off. 

They perform these gestures or genuflections in 
a very skillful manner partly because they repeat 
them so often that they become natural to them and 
partly because there are always so many spectators 
and they wish "to be seen of men" and therefore pay 
more attention as to how they appear to men than 
as to how they appear to "Allah" whom they claim 
to be worshipping. This is especially true when there 
are Christians among their spectators. For example, 
there was a Mohammedan dyer who lived in my na- 
tive Christian village. During the summer all the 
village people slept upon their house tops. Then 
this Mohammedan would go upon the top of his 
house and pray so that the whole village might hear 
him. Part of his prayer he used to sing, part he 
used to chant, and a part he repeated in a low tone. 
After a few months he borrowed money from some 
of the village and then he disappeared. Thus one 
cannot help seeing that their prayers are merely for 
outward show and do not come from the heart "in 
secret to the Father who seeth in secret" as do those 
of true Christians. 

A murderer or a thief will stand in the city square 
and pray in order to make people believe him as in- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 193 

nocent as an angel, but those that know him will be 
all the more afraid of him because they believe that 
he is only on the look out for a chance to steal. 
When such a one is praying it makes no difference 
what is going on around him. It will not in the 
least interrupt him. Their customs require him to 
appear to be devout and he is afraid that it may show 
his own consciousness of his guilt if he should in any 
way appear to be conscious of his surroundings. 
Very often they pray out of fear of each other to 
divert suspicion. 

MOHAMMEDAN FUNERALS. 

When a Mohammedan dies his whole family 
mourns for him. The women wear black and darken 
their eyes, while the men leave their breasts uncov- 
ered. If the dead man was prominent and wealthy 
his servants will be sent around to bring some ladies 
who can recite poetry and sing songs of lamentation. 
All the relatives and friends and even many out- 
siders will be present. The ladies will sit around 
the corpse and sing songs of lamentation appropri- 
ate to the circumstance of the deceased man. They 
sing by turns using such sorrowful tunes as to make 
every one shed tears. This occasion of lamentation 
will continue at least one hour. The corpse will 
then be taken to a temple or mosque and the lamen- 
tations continued in the presence of all the relatives, 
friends and acquaintances of the dead. 

The lamentations are somtimes accompanied by 
music. When this starts up with their awful funeral 
tunes their sorrw is beyond measure. The body is 
washed and ornamented by painting the eyes and 



194 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

eyebrows black, the feet and hands red. It is then 
placed in a coffin. I once asked a Mohammedan why 
they thus ornament the bodies of their dead. He 
replied, "In order that the deceased may appear 
beautiful and clean before God." 

They place the coffin on a ladder and four men 
carry it .upon their shoulders- the people following 
and the priest leading the procession by reading, 
singing, chanting, and reciting poetry descriptive of 
the final judgment. The corpse is then placed in 
a brick vault. After the burial they give to 
each one present a piece of bread and sometimes a 
handful of raisins also. Then every one returns to 
his own home except the priest who remains by the 
vault until all are gone so that no one may see or 
hear him and then he speaks to the dead man calling 
him by his mother's and not by his father's name,, 
because they do not know if he was his father's son 
but they are absolutely sure that he was his mother's 
son. Some say that the priest tells him that he must 
give a good account of himself at the last judgment. 
Some of the native Christians, however, claim that 
when the priest stands alone there with the dead 
he tells him that we have denied Christ in this world, 
but you must not deny him in the world to come for 
he is the Lord and Saviour. 

If the deceased man was not able during his life 
to make a pilgrimage to any holy place, then before 
his death he will bequeath a certain sum of money 
that is to be used by his sons or other near relatives 
for the carrying of his body to the city of Karbella. 
Should his relatives not want to go themselves, they 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 195 

will make a contract with some one who is going on 
a pilgrimage to carry his bones with them for the 
bequeathed amount so that they may rest in the holy 
city of Karbella. 

Then they dig up the body and separate the flesh 
from the bones, dry the latter and pack them in a 
box and carry them or have the man who has con- 
tracted for it carry them to Karbella. I have often 
heard of Mohammedans saying that the carrying of 
a man's bones for such a long distance on horseback 
is a very tiresome job for the journey to Karbella 
and return requires five months. So it is said that 
very often those who carry skeletons take them a 
little distance and then either cast them into a river 
or else dig a hole and bury them there. Upon their 
return they say, "Yes, we have carried them to the 
holy city Karbella. 

Sometimes when a man whose father and grand- 
father were poor accumulates riches he makes a vow 
to send the bones of his father and his grandfather 
to Karbella, even though they may have been dead 
thirty or forty years. He will at the same time make 
the pilgrimage himself to the holy places. 

I have asked about the object of these disgusting 
ceremonies and have been told by some that it was 
nothing only the moving of the bones from one grave 
into another. Others say that it is an honor to the 
deceased man to have his bones rest in the same place 
as those of the great prophets, Hassen and Hussein, 
the grandsons of Mohammed in the holy city of Kar- 
bella. 

There is said to be a hole there in which all the 



196 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

skeletons are placed and that afterwards camels 
come and take them away. 

Such is the condition of all those that follow a 
false religion. It curses its people and burdens them 
with rites that are unsatisfactory to the human soul. 
It places the conscience in a state of perplexity so 
that it can never find that peace and satisfaction for 
which the human soul yearns. 

Many Mohammedans acknowledge that the 
Christians are happier and more hopeful than they. 
So it is that a Mohammedan with all of his alms, 
pilgrimages and prayers five times a day fails to find 
peace. But when he is converted to Christianity 
and believes in the only true son of God then he 
finds the peace that he has been seeking in so many 
wrong ways, then is he satisfied. 

All the purifications, offerings and sacrifices of 
the Jew under his theocratic government only serv- 
ed to point him to his everlasting hope, the sacrifice 
of the innocent lamb of God which by their prophetic 
vision his prophets saw, and rejoiced to see. 

All of the three hundred gods of the Hindo can- 
not satisfy the longings of his soul even though he 
sacrifice his children to them. But when he is con- 
verted and becomes a follower of the Lord Jesus, 
then is he satisfied and then does his mind begin to 
develop and his views become broadened for, "The 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the 
knowledge of the holy is understanding." 

In this way all the religions of the world have 
been tested. All ungodly infidels have been heard, 
and one after another has fallen and perished. All 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 197 

have been weighed in the balance and found want- 
ing. So shall the false religions of the present day 
perish in the years to come. It is only the structure 
of our religion with Christ as the corner stone that 
has been able to stand against all the assaults of 
her enemies from within and without and shall con- 
tinue to stand until time shall be no more. Many 
who are now the enemies of Christ's church shall 
come to take refuge under the shadow of her wings; 
she shall go on from victory to victory until she 
overcomes at last because her king is the King of 
Kings who is victorious and whose subjects when 
they awake in his likeness shall be satisfied. 



THE KING AND HIS COUET. 

In order to better understand the present royal 
family of Persia we will briefly give a few facts from 
the life of the Shah, Nasr-ed-Din, the father of the 
present shah, or king of Persia. Shah Nasr-ed-Din > 
the fourth king of the Kadjar dynasty was the son 
of Shah Mohammed and the great-grandson of Fat- 
taly Shah, the founder of the dynasty. Fattaly Shah 
was a man of fine physique and very proud of his 
broad shoulders and his long black beard reaching 
to his waist. To him Teheran is indebted for many 
of her fine buildings and the many bas-reliefs of 
him, sculptured on rocks all around the city, 
and the portraits of him found in every 
one of his palaces. In his youth he had been 
a very wise and intelligent king, but being 
unsuccessful in his wars with Russia he spent most 



198 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



of the remainder of his life in his harems with his 
seven hundred wives and six hundred children. Of 
course the finances of Persia could not permit the 
supporting of such a numerous royal family in royal 
style and so it happened that many of the blood 
royal are now as poor as the poorest of the shah's 
subjects. It is said that Fattaly's descendants now 




SHAH NASR-ED-DIN- 



number over five thousand persons. Although the 
father of such a numerous progeny Fattaly Shah was 
succeeded upon the throne by his grandson, Shah 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 199 

Mohammed whose father, Fattaly's eldest son, had 
died before the old monarch. Shah Mohammed was 
a very weak and indolent ruler but his son Shah 
Nasr-ed-Din, who ascended the throne in the year 
1848 at the age of eighteen, holds an honorable place 
among the rulers of the world. He visited the Euro- 
pean courts at three different times. The two most 
important improvements introduced by him into his 
country were the construction of telegraph lines in 
the years 1869-1876, and the establishment of a pos- 
tal service in 1877. The last important service he 
rendered his country was the founding of a univer- 
sity called Darinal-funum, or place of science, at the 
capital city, Teheran. Most of the teachers em- 
ployed in this institution are either Frenchmen or 
Englishmen. By these means Nasr-ed-Din made 
communication between himself and his people 
easier and brought himself in touch with the Euro- 
pean nations in spite of the prejudices of his Mo- 
hammedan priests who hate and oppose everything 
that tends to bring Persia in contact with the na- 
tions of Europe. 

The government of Persia is an absolute mon- 
archy, and since its establishment two hundred and 
hfty-five kings have reigned over its people. 

Nasr-ed-Din was not only an absolute monarch 
in civil affairs, but in matters of religion as well, 
being exempt from all the laws and requirements 
of the Mohammedan religion. He could also marrv 
as many wives as he pleased and divorce them at 
pleasure. He had forty wives but only four of them 
were legal. Besides these forty wives that were 



200 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

kept in the harem every now and then some influen- 
tial man who had a beautiful daughter would send 
her as a present to the king. The king would many 
her for a short time and then divorce her. After 
that she could marry some one else. A man would 
often present his daughter to the king in order to 
gain influence and reputation. Such were always 
presented on Friday. It used to happen sometimes 
that several maidens were sent at the same time in 
this way. Then they would be brought to a certain 
place and the king riding upon horseback would 
come into the midst of the group. Then each one 
would present herself eager to become the king's 
wife no matter for how long or how short a time. 
In this way he would have a chance to see them all 
and if there was any one among them that pleased 
his fancy he would put his handkerchief upon her 
head and then leave them. Afterwards his eunuchs 
would take her to his harem. 

Upon his return from his last trip to Europe at 
the city of Tifles the capital of Georgia situated on 
the river Kur in the Caucasian mountains and now 
belonging to Russia, two young maidens of celebrat 
ed beauty and belonging to the Caucasian race were 
presented to him. He accepted both of them, had 
them brought to Persia and added to his bevy of 
beauties in the harem. All these women of the har- 
em were most voluptuously kept, elegantly dressed, 
bountifully fed, but governed by the strictest dis- 
cipline. No man could appear in the harem except 
the family officers and the eunuchs who have always 
been especially empowered to guard the harem and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



201 



preserve peace among the women, for naturally 
enough among such a large family of women brought 
from so many different families and with little to oc- 
cupy them, disputes and quarrels often arise. 

When ever the king would go on a journey or go 
out into the fields for sport he would take alonj? w T ith 




ZELLE SULTAN. 



him as many of his wives as he wished while some of 
the eunuchs always accompanied them as a guard. 
Since Nasr-ed-Din had so many wives one might 



-7 



02 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



suppose that he must have had many children also, 
but such was not the case. He had only four sons. 
The eldest son, Zelle Sultan, is much like his father 
and is a very intelligent prince. Muzafer-ed-Din, 
the present shah, is three years younger than his 
brother, Zelle Sultan, but succeeded his father never- 
theless because in Persia only' a son whose mother is 
a legal wife of the shah can ascend the throne. 



legal wife 



Zelle Sultan's mother not being a 

of Nasr-ed-Din disqualified him for heirship 

to the throne. He is now governor of one of the 




KNANISHU MORATKHAN'S SCHOOL. 

provinces. The two other sons of Shah Nasr-ed-Din 
hold high offices in the kingdom of Persia. 

Nasr-ed-Din was a friend of the poor and oppress- 
ed. He was especially favorable toward the Nes- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



203 



-torian Christians as being his most faithful, indus- 
trious and useful subjects. He used to call them 
his beloved people of the Nazarene. Christians in 
Persia are always called by the Mohammedans the 
followers of the Nazarene because Mohammed him- 
self so called them. 

My father, Knanishu Moratkhan, a native Nes- 




KNANISHU MORATKHAN'S SCHOOL. 

torian Christian, has been engaged for the last 
twenty-five years in educational work among our 
own people, the Nestorian Christians living around 
lake Oroomiah. He has established and maintains 
three schools there. Having visited this country in 
the year 1888, his face in the three accompanying il- 
lustrations may be familiar to some of my readers. 
The Shah Nasr-ed-Din in recognition of the value 



204 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



of his services as an educator conferred upon him 
in the year 1892 the degree of "Milet Basshi/' Head 
of the Nation. This title however, does not mean 
as much there as the English translation of it would 
indicate. 




KNANISHU MORATKHAN'S SCHOOL. 

All this kind feeling on the part of the shah, how- 
ever, only increased the animosity of his Mohamme- 
dan priests toward the Nestorians. The priest-hood 
is very powerful in Persia. The priests, the khans 
or lords, the governor and the Mohammedan people 
it is who inflict so much cruelty upon the Nestorian 
and Armenian Christians in Persia and most of it 
never reaches the ears of the shah. 

The kings of Persia have always been very care- 
ful to observe the forms of their religion. They say 
their prayers at the appointed hours. Since it is the 



ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 205 

custom of the Mohammedans to do this in public any 
neglect of it would excite notice and nothing would 
tend more to weaken a king's authority than a belief 
among his subjects that he was irreligious. 

The Shah Nasr-de-Din was a very enlightened and 
religious man. He especially favored missionaries, 
never being prejudiced against them as the cruel Sul- 
tan of Turkey, because he was wise enough to know 
that they had come to do good and not evil. 

The present shah is equally kindly disposed to- 
ward missionaries. 

The following denominations and nationalities 
are engaged in doing missionary work in Persia: 
First in importance and influence is the Presbyterian 
mission supported by that denomination in this coun 
try. The Roman Catholics are also doing some mis- 
sionary work there. There is an English mission 
supported by the state church of England; a Swedish 
mission sent out by the Mission Friends of Sweden; 
and a German mission under the auspices of the Luth- 
eran church of Germany. Lately the Greek Catholic 
church of Russia has established a mission there 
also, and considerable trouble has resulted between 
it and the other missions alreadv established. 

It may also be interesting to state that while all 
the above mentioned missionaries are working 
among the native Christians it is the native Chris- 
tians themselves who are doing missionary work 
among the Mohammedans, but the process is very 
slow. 

On the first of May 1896, the Shah Nasr-ed-Din, 
having just gone through with the forms of religious 



206 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

worship in a Mohammedan shrine, was coming out of 
the door when he was shot by the hand of an assassin 
and killed instantly. His murderer was one of his 
.subjects. Mirza Kiza of Kerman, who belonged to the 
peculiar sect of Babesim that is found in Persia and 
that differs from the Mohammedan religion. 

THE PRESENT SHAH. 

The present shah, Muzafer-ed-Din is especially 
known from his early youth to be a most zealously 




SHAH MUZAFER-ED-DIN. 

religious man. All the princes of Persia learn very 
early all the forms of their Mohammedan religion. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 207 

At the age of three or four years they can repeat a 
few short prayers and are perfect in their genuflec- 
tions and manner of holding their hands when pray- 
ing. They are also most carefully instructed in all the 
forms of etiquette that a prince should know. They 
are taught how to make their obeisance to a superior 
and how to behave to a person of equal rank or an 
inferior. Also how they are to stand in the presence 
of their father, the king, how to be seated if desired 
and how to retire. All these forms are of great con- 
sequence at a court where everything is regulated 
by ceremony, and it is not unusual to see a child five 
years old as mature in his manners and as grave in 
his deportment in a public assembly- as the oldest 
person present. When a young prince is between 
the ages of seven and eight years he begins to learn 
the Persian and Arabic languages. He learns to 
read the Koran in the latter language. After this 
he is instructed in the essential tenets of his religion. 
He is early imbued with the importance of those doc- 
trines which distinguish the faith of the Shiite sect 
of Mohammedans to which the Persians belong from 
the Sunnite sect to which the Turks belong. He is 
taught to regard the Sunnite faith with abhorence. 
When he is considered well grounded in religion Per- 
sian books are put into his hands. The works of 
Sadi are expected at once to give him a taste for 
fables and poetry and to inspire him with a desire 
for a worthy fame. He is also given a superficial 
course in grammar, logic, sacred law, and philosophy. 
His progress in these higher branches of a Persian 
education depends largely upon his own disposition 



208 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

or bent of mind and his ability to learn. Usually 
be does not accomplish more than to read and write 
with ease and fluency. But superiority in his at- 
tainments as a scholar always adds greatly to his 
reputation and influence. Thus the present shah 
Muzafer-ed-Din is well versed in all the branches of 
religion and science belonging to Persia. He can 
also read and speak the French language and in that 
way has become well acquainted with western ideas 
and the subjects taught in western schools. At 
present Shah Muzafer-ed-Din is using his utmost 
power for making improvements in his country, such 
as the building of railroads, opening of mines, build- 
ing of asylums and schools, for freedom of the press 
and the introduction of a new code of laws to bring 
about a civilization in Persia something like that of 
Europe which shall tolerate all kinds of religion. 
Such are his ambitions as a ruler. He has absolute 
power to appoint and remove his own ministers of 
state at pleasure. He has a number of wives and 
they are kept in a beautiful palace, at the Capital 
City, Teheran, which is guarded day and night by 
sentinels. He is very fond of out-door sports and is 
known as a good marksman. Almost everv dav he 
goes out escorted by a number of horsemen followed 
by the bearers of gold and silver clubs who shout, 
"Berum! Berum!" "Get out! Get out!" Then every 
one that is in the street will stand on either side of 
the street and bow before him while he passes by. 

His executioners attend him, always dressed in 
red uniforms and carrying with them their instru 
ments of torture and death. It is not an unusual 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 209 

thing for petitioners to come with petitions to pre- 
sent on such occasions. In such cases the petitioner 
simply stands there holding his written petition on 
his head. In this way it will be noticed and some 
one of the king's rear guard will take it and give it 
to the king afterwards. He will read it at his lei- 
sure. In such splendor the king of Persia always 
appears before his subjects and it makes a great im- 
pression on them. 

THE COURT OF PERSIA. 

"In no court is there more rigid attention paid to 
ceremony. The looks, words and even the move- 
ments of the body are all regulated by the strictest 
forms. When the king is seated in public his sons, 
ministers, and courtiers stand erect with their hands 
crossed and in the exact place belonging to their 
rank. They watch his looks and a glance is a com- 
mand. If he speaks to them, you hear a voice reply 
and see the lips move but not a motion or gesture 
betrays that there is animation in the person thus ad- 
dressed. He often speaks of himself in the third 
person as ."The king is pleased. The king com- 
mands." His ministers address him with high- 
sounding titles giving expression to the popular sen- 
timents with regard to him. For instance he is call- 
ed, 'The object of the world's regard/ 'Kiblah i 
alam,' or 'Point of the Universe,' 'King of kings,' and 
'The lord of the Universe.' 

They are as particular in forms of speech as in 
other ceremonies and superiority and inferiority of 
rank in all their graduations are implied by the 
terms used in the commonest conversation. Noth- 



210 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ing can exceed the splendor of the Persian court on 
extraordinary occasions. It presents a scene of the 
greatest magnificence regulated by the most exact 
order. To no part of the government is so much at- 
tention paid as to the strict maintanance of those 
forms and ceremonies which are deemed essential to 
the power and glory of the monarch ; and the highest 
officers to whom this duty is allotted are armed with 
the fullest authority and are always attended by a 
number of inferiors who carry their commands into 
the most prompt execution."* 4 

The Persian Mohammedans have two festivals. 
One is called Ed-al-Fits, or the festival after absti- 
nence, and commences the day after the fast of Ea- 
maza. The second is called Ed-al-koorban, or the 
feast of sacrifice which begins on the tenth of the 
month of Zulkada and is instituted in commemor- 
ation of Abraham's offering up of Isaac. This tenth 
day of Zulkada is also the day appointed for the 
slaying of victims by the pilgrims at Mecca. 

There is also another great festival called New 
Eooz, or new day and is the feast of the vernal 
equinox, 21st of March. This is the greatest festival 
observed by the Persians and was introduced by 
Jemshed, a Persian king who ruled many centuries 
before the Christian era. It was he who introduced 
into Persia the reckoning of time by the solar year 
and ordered the first day of it to be celebrated by a 
splendid festival which is to this day observed with 
as much joy and festivity as Thanksgiving day or 
Christmas in this country. On this day the bazaars 
in the cities are decorated in Persian style and il- 

* Malcolm's History of Persia. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 211 

luminated in a gay manner. The king marches out 
of his capital attended by his ministers, nobles, and 
as many of his army as can be assembled, remaining 
out as long as he desires. Upon this day he confers 
vestments of honor upon his nobles and officers and 
receives presents from them. The feast is kept for 
an entire week with equal demonstrations of joy in 
every part of the kingdom. The first day, however, 
is the most important. Upon that day all ranks ap- 
pear in their newest apparel. They send presents 
of sweetmeats to each other and the poor are not 
forgotten. In the streets of the cities and upon the 
country roads crowds of people are seen, some going 
to visit friends, others returning, carrying with them 
bundles and packages of sweetmeats or presents. 
Indeed this is the clay of joy and gladness through- 
out the kingdom, a national holiday observed by all 
of the shah's subjects. They think of it with a great 
deal of pride and look forward to it with the pleas- 
antest anticipations. 

"There are persons who bear the name of story- 
tellers around whom are often seen crowds of people 
in the public squares or other places which are suit- 
able for their entertainments. Although Persians 
are passionately fond of public exhibitions, still they 
have none that deserve the name of theatrical en- 
tertainments; but though strangers to the regular 
drama their stories are often dramatic; and those 
whose occupation is to tell them sometimes display 
so extraordinary a skill and such varied powers that 
we can hardly believe while we look on their altered 
countenances and listen to their changed tones, that 



212 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

it is the same person, who at one moment tells a 
plain narrative in his natural voice, then speaks in 
the hoarse and angry tone of offended authority, and 
next subdues the possions he has excited by the soft- 
est sounds of feminine tenderness. The art of tell- 
ing stories is attended both with profit and reputa- 
tion. Great numbers attempt it but few succeed. 
It requires considerable! talents and great study. 
None can arrive at eminence except men of cultivated 
taste and retentive memory. They must not only 
be acquainted with the best ancient and modern 
stories but be able to vary them by introducing new 
incidents which they have heard or invented. They 
must also recollect the finest passages of the most 
popular poets to aid the impression of the narrative 
by appropriate quotations. Kings of Persia used to 
have especially such a story teller whose office it i s 
to amuse his majesty with those stories. His tales 
are artfully made to suit the disposition and mo- 
mentary humor of the monarch. Sometimes he re 
cites a story of the former sovereign, or of the love 
of some wandering prince, often the story is of coars 
er materials and the king is entertained with low 
and obscene adventures."* 

The Persian kings have always attached great 
importance to having a good band of musicians for 
their own enjoyment and the present shah is not an 
exception to that rule. Indeed his band is claimed 
by some to be the best in the world. 

The princes, nobles, ministers and public officers 
of high rank imitate the king in many ways. All 
the respect they pay to him they exact from their in- 

* Malcolm's History of Persia. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 213 

feriors. Each in his rank has a petty court of his 
own with about the same forms and regulated in 
about the same manner and by officers bearing the 
same official names as those who attend the mon- 
arch. Every chief or officer of high station has his 
harem, his secretaries, his officers of ceremonies, his 
master of horse and sometimes even his poet and 
jester. In his house there is as strict attention to 
exactness of conduct as in the palaces of his sover- 
eign. Sensible of the conditions by which they are 
surrounded these persons appear as desirous of ob- 
taining money and as eager to spend it lavishly for 
their own pleasure as do those of the same rank in 
other countries. Women, horses, rich armour and 
elegant clothing are the principal objects of their 
desires. Their splendid apartments are furnished 
with rich Persian carpets and are generally so situ- 
ated as to be perfumed by flower gardens and re- 
freshed by fountains. . One of their chief pleasures 
is to sit in these elegant apartments and enjoy their 
tea, coffee, and tobacco and feast their friends. 
Their meals are always abundant, even sumptuous. 
Nor does it mar this enjoyment in the least to know 
that they have all their wealth at the expense of 
their poor oppressed people whom they lord it over. 
Many officers in the kingdom take bribes and fines 
from the poor in order to accumalate large fortunes 
and then go to the capital city and give so much as 
a bribe to this prince and so much to that minister 
in order to be introduced to the king. Then he 
gives a large sum as a present to the king who in 
turn confers upon him a title and in this way he be- 



214 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

comes a great man and adds to the power that he al- 
ready has for the oppression of his inferiors. Mer- 
chants and trades-people who secure titles for their 
children by means of the fortunes they have made 
in trade are not by any means the only class who get 
titles without and deeds of heroism. There are 
many such in Persia whose sole title to greatness is 
the power to oppress and over-tax. 

When there are three or four men standing the 
one on the other's shoulders the one on top has an 
easy time of it, the one next a comparatively easy 
time and so on down the column but how about the 
one at the bottom? So it is in Persia the whole 
weight of the government and all the splendor that 
those in the highest ranks enjoy falls upon the poor 
lower classes who constitute the great majority of 

the people. 

* * ■» 

SOME INTERESTING FEATURES AND LE- 
GENDS. 

Persia, the land of the "Lion and the Sun," the 
country from which the ancestors of the European 
nations emigrated, may very properly be called the 
cradle of the white race, while that part of it lying 
adjacent to Armenia together with Armenia may 
with equal propriety be called the cradle of the 
whole human family. In it the immediate descen- 
dants of the three great ancestors of mankind, Shem, 
Ham, and Japheth lived. From it they emigrated 
first to India, Europe and Africa and afterwards to 
every inhabitable part of the earth. None of the 
Hamitic people are found there now, but true types 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 215 

of the Shemites and Japhethites are still living 
there. 

This interesting historic country lies in the west- 
ern part of the continent of Asia, and is bordered 
on the north by Asiatic Russia and the Caspian sea; 
on the east by Afghanistan and Beloochistan; on 
the south by the Arabian sea and the Persian gulf; 
and on the west by the Turkish Empire, with Mount 
Ararat rising up conspicuously to the northwest of it 

Its territory extending nine hundred (900) miles 
from east to west, and seven hundred (TOO) from 
north to south, embraces an area of about six hun- 
dred thousand (600,000) square miles. 

It is divided into twenty-four (24) states or prov- 
inces. 

The greater part of it consists of dry, barren, 
mountainous deserts and small plains. 

All of its lakes are salt, so salt that no fish can 
live in them. 

There are some few small plains, however, that 
are very fertile and well watered. These produce 
different kinds of fruits, grains, and flowers in abun- 
dance and it is upon these that the thriftiest classes 
of the Persians live. Doubtless Sadi, the Persian 
poet, was inspired by the great beauty and fertility 
of these when he called Persia "A Paradise.'' 

MOUNT ARARAT, 

The word Ararat means highland. The noted 
mountain known by this name stands as the divid- 
ing point between Russia on the north, Persia on the 
east and Turkey on the west. It is situated on the 
fertile plateau of northern Armenia with the Black 



216 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



sea on the northwest and the Caspian sea on the 
east, each equally distant from it, and Iran or Per- 
sia on the southeast, from which the European na- 
tions derive their name of "Aryan." The plateau 
on which it stands is surrounded on the south, by 
the Kurdistan mountains; on the east, close to the 
Caspian sea, by the Elburz mountains, and the north 




MOUNT ARARAT. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 

by the Caucasian mountains. It is, however,, 
isolated from all surrounding mountains and 
rises quite alone slightly north of the center of 
this plateau. It rears its venerable head in a majes- 
tically beautiful manner high up into the clear blue 
sky of Aremnia. The sight of it is an inspiration to 
the people who live around it and regard it with a 
certain amount of awe and reverence. After it rises 
to a certain height it divides itself into two cones, the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 217 

higher one called Great Ararat, is about eighteen 
thousand feet above the level of the sea; while the 
lower one, called little Ararat, is about twelve thous- 
and feet above the sea level. The top of Great Ara- 
rat is covered with snow all the year round and the 
people living about it have for centuries been care- 
fully watching it to see if all the snow on it should 
ever melt for around its sides and base the weather 
is quite warm during the summer. But it never has, 
consequently the snow of centuries gone by still 
makes its venerable head hoary. In 1840 a small 
portion of the mountain was thrown down by an 
earthquake, completely burying the entire village of 
Aukura which was situated at the foot of it on the 
eastern side. 

It is upon the Great Ararat that the people sup 
pose Noah's ark rested. My home as many of my 
readers may know is in Iran or Persia, about one 
hundred and fifty miles south-east of Ararat. The 
Persians, one of the oldest branches of the European 
races, who are still living at this first home or cradle, 
so to speak, of the European nations call this moun- 
tain "Kuhi-Nuh" which means Mountain of Noah. 

The traditions among the inhabitants of Ar- 
menia and a part of Persia about this Mount Ararat 
being the same one mentioned in the eighth chapter 
of Genesis are very fresh and vivid. The inhabi- 
tants of the city of Nakh-che-van which is only a few 
miles distant from Ararat actuallv believe that 
when Noah came down from Ararat he settled on 
the spot where Nakhchevan now lies and planted 
the vineyards by which Nakhchevan is at present 



218 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

surrounded. Many even claim that it has derived 
its name from Noah, the word Nakkchevan meaning 
residence of Noah. At any rate the city of Nakh- 
ckevan is very old, possibly the oldest in the world. 

The steepness of the highest cone has made it 
very difficult or quite impossible to ascend. Prob- 
ably the people for centuries back have tried in vain 
to reach its summit just as the people now living 
around it have done and that their repeated failures 
to accomplish this object has led the inhabitants 
surrounding it to believe that God has designedly 
made it impossible of ascent. The people even be 
lieve that if a person should climb half way up its 
peak one day and go to sleep there over night he 
would find himself at its base the next morning 
when he awoke. 

Many tourists have visited this mountain but it 
would be safe to say that none of them have ever set 
foot upon its dome of eternal snow and ice. A cou- 
sin of mine living about seven miles from Ararat has 
told me that the Russians have tried repeatedly to 
reach its top but failed on account of the steepness 
of it. They have posted a cross at the highest point 
reached by them. 

Rev. Yohanan once told me that there is another 
mountain called Ararat not very far from the land 
of Shinar, south of Armenia. Upon this pieces of 
very hard wood have been found which were suppos 
ed to be remains of the genuine ark. There is also 
a village at the foot of this mountain called "Hasht" 
w^hich means eight, having reference as they think 
io the number of persons composing Noah's family 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 219 

who lived there and afterwards built another village 
a short distance from Hasht, then spread into the 
land of Shinar. It was then while the whole earth 
was of one language and one speech that they began 
to build the tower of Babel. This tradition, how- 
ever, is limited to the people who live in that vicinity 
while that associating the Ark with Mount Ararat 
in northern Armenia is spread among many nations 
of the earth. 

THE POPULATION OF PERSIA. 

Persia was formerly much more thickly popu 
lated and well cultivated than at the present time. 
Proofs of this are found all over the land in the waste 
spots showing the ruins of what was once thriving 
cities and villages. 

There is not one-fourth of the wealth or popula- 
tion in Persia today that there was there three cen- 
turies ago, and not one-tenth as many people as she 
had in the times of Cyrus the Great. Since the in- 
vasion of Persia by the Arabs in the year 632 of the 
Christian era and the introduction of the Mohamme- 
dan religion the kingdom has been growing weaker 
and weaker and its people more and more oppressed. 
The doleful chants of the Mohammedan priests have 
been, as it were, the nation's lamentations over the 
fading of its past glory, for its glory has been wan- 
ing ever since the horrible cries of the Muezzin have 
been heard from the Mohammedan mosques. 

In the reign of Cyrus the Great the inhabitants 
of Persia numbered about forty millions (40,000,- 
000.) At present no census is taken and its popula 
tion is variously estimated by different ones. We 



220 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

estimate its present population at about seven mil- 
lions (7,000,000), made up of the following nationali- 
ties and sects: about forty thousand (40,000) Ar- 
menian Christians, thirty thousand (30,000) Assy- 
rian or Nestorian Christians, twenty thousand (20, 
000) Jews, fifteen thousand (15,000) Parsees or Fire- 
worshippers, and the remaining six million nine hun- 
dred and ninety-five thousand (6,995,000 are Mo- 
hammedans composed of Persians, Arabs, Kurds and 
Turks. 

THE ANCIENT RELIGION OF PERSIA. 

"According to Moshin Frani the primeval re- 
ligion of Persia consisted in a firm belief in one su- 
preme God, who made the world by his power, and 
governed it by his providence; a pious fear, love and 
adoration; a reverance for parents and aged persons; 
a fraternal affection for the whole human species; 
and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute 
creation. This belief was followed by a worship of 
the host of heaven or the celestial bodies; to this wor- 
ship succeeded that of fire, which was introduced by 
Zoroaster (Zaradusht) who was born about 500 B. 
C."* Perhaps in the city of Oroomiah in the prov- 
ince of Azerbijan, throughout which are found in- 
effaceable traces of the temple of these Fire-wor- 
shippers. 

The sacred fire that was kept burning day and 
night for centuries upon these altars has formed 
veritable hills of ashes. These ashes are at present 
being used to fertilize the now barren fields that 
once furnished timber to keep up these fires that were 
never permitted in those days to go out or burn low 

^Malcolm's History of Persia. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



221 



on their altars. This element, fire, on account of its 
great brilliancy and its purifying power was regard- 
ed as a symbol of God, and the adherents of this re- 




FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. 

{Frotn T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. V.) 

ligion believed that Zoroaster brought this fire with 
him from heaven when he was allowed to visit 
heaven in order to bring down to earth the Zenda- 
vesta (Avesta) or scriptures of the ancient Parsees. 

LEADING DOCTRINES OF ZOROASTER. 

"Zoroaster taught that God existed from all eter- 
nity and was like infinity of time and space. There 
were, he declared, two principles in the universe — 



222 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

good and evil; the one was termed Orniazd, the pre- 
siding agent of all good; the other Ahriman, the lord 
of evil. Each of these had the power of creation, 
but that power was exercised with opposite designs; 
and it was from their united action, that an admix- 
ture of good and evil was found in every created 
thing. The angels of Ormazd, or the good principle 
sought to preserve the elements, the seasons and the 
human race which the infernal angels of Ahriman 
desired to destroy; but the source of good alone, the 
great Ormazd was eternal and must therefore ulti- 
mately prevail. Light was of the good, darkness of 
the evil spirit; and God had said to Zoroaster 'My 
light is concealed under all that shines.' Hence 
the disciple of that prophet, when he performs his 
devotions in a temple, turns toward the sacred fire 
that burns upon its altar; and when in open air to- 
wards the sun as the noblest of all lights and that by 
which God sheds his divine influence over the whole 
earth; and perpetuates the work of his creation."* 

The religion as set forth by Zoroaster was origin- 
ally a simple monstheistic faith but afterwards was 
so changed as to become a most complicated system. 

In 632 the Mohammedans conquered Persia and 
abolished the religion of the Fire-worshippers by the 
sword establishing Mohammedanism in its stead. 

Some of the Fire- worshippers fled into India where 
about twenty thousand (20,000) of them are found at 
present, still true to their ancient religion, still keep- 
ing up the perpetual fires upon their altars. 

In Persia about fifteen thousand (15,000) of them 
are still found prizing their religion above all things 

♦Malcolm's History of Persia. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 225 

and never marrying outside their own faith. They 
are noted for their beauty, generosity, faithfulness 
and industry. No one familiar with Moore's Lalla 
Rookh can be unfamiliar with this interesting 
people. 

They abhor the Mohammedans but love the Chris- 
tians and greatly appreciate their religion. 

Zoroaster, we are told was a great astrologer and 
from his knowledge of the heavenly bodies could cal- 
culate nativities and. foretell events. He foretold 
the birth of our Lord and it is on account of this that 
we have given the foregoing brief outline of his in- 
troduction of Fire-worship into Persia. 

The two following lists of the names of the wise 
men from the east who went to worship the infant 
Saviour together with Zoroaster's prophecy of his 
birth are my translations from old Syriac manu- 
scripts still preserved among my people the Assyrian 
or Nestorian Christians of Persia. The names I have 
spelled in English as nearly like they are pronounced 
in my language as possible. 

Milkoo, who took gold. 

Casper, who took frankincense. 

Bagdasar, who took myrrh. 
Others say that there were twelve wise men in 
the party that journeyed to Bethlehem. They give 
the names as follows: 

Dervander son of Juartish. 

Hoormuzdar son of Cetaroog. 

Ghisnap son of Gunadnapar. 

Aershak son of Meharook. 

Zheroondar son of Waroaz. 



224 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Aerekoo son of Khoosroo. 

Artaxerxes son of Koolkad. 

Aishtabdoon son of Shirvanash. 

Mezrook son of Koohem. 

Ahasuerus son of Sapkhan. 

Sardalek son of Bedarn. 

Mroodak son of Bel dan. 
According to the Assyrian or Nestorian church 
fathers the holy prophet Zoroaster thus taught the 
Persians concerning the birth of Christ: When a 
fixed period has come and the time has been fulfilled 
a Saviour will come to the world. He shall be the 
invisible God and it shall be wonderful on the earth 
at that time. A sign shall be seen in that day 
which shall be unique and incomprehensible for it 
shall not be from this world. A luminous bright 
star shall arise which shall exceed in brilliancy the 
sun and the moon and shall resemble a woman car- 
rying a child in her bosom. When this star shall 
appear the sun shall not be able to hide it nor the 
stars to conceal it for it shall shine everywhere. 

Keep my words in your hearts, teach them to your 
children, your children to their children until he 
comes. When this sign appears in this likeness to 
your sons, let them take in their hands three offer- 
ings to his glory: 

Let them offer gold to him as king — for gold is 
the tribute paid to kings. 

Myrrh also as suited to his humanity shall they 
offer. » 

Frankincense shall they offer in honor of his di- 
vinity — for this is the symbol of sacrifice to God and 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 225 

he shall indeed be the God of gods. 

The land in which this shall appear shall see 
many mighty works. He shall be crucified. He 
shall be brought into life. He shall vanquish the 
destroyer death. He shall rise again on the third 
day. He shall ascend to the height of his excellence. 
In the fullness of days he shall come to execute judg- 
ment upon all flesh. 

See, this have I commanded you. Take heed to 
it, both ye and your children that when he comes ye 
disregard him not, that your end may not be perdi- 
tion, for he is the Lord of the kings and rulers of both 
the heavens and the earth. Keject not this my 
speech. 

And so the people kept these sayings in their 
hearts and taught them to their children and child- 
ren's children and used to even go up upon the 
mountains and watch for the star that was to be the 
hearld to them that a Saviour, the Prince of Peace 
had come. Finally the star appeared and these very 
people to whom this tradition had been handed down 
from one . generation to another saw it. It shone 
there clear and bright away off in the distance over 
the little town of Bethlehem and while their wise 
men thanked God for this divine revelation of him- 
self and taking their rich gifts of gold, frankincense 
and myrrh went to worship him many another de- 
vout and aged person among these very people felt 
like the aged Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy 
servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 

"For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Which 
thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A 



226 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy 
people Israel." 









THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST. 

{From T. H. McAllister, Optician, N. Y.) 




THE RULERS OE THE WORLD. 



228 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 



STORIES FROM PERSIAN HISTORY. 

(contributed.) 
CHEDORLAOMER . 

One of the first great conquerers we read of in 
history came from Elam that is southwestern Per- 
sia. His name was Chedorlaomer. He allied him- 
self with three other kings and conquered the kings 
of Sodom and Gomorrah and three other kings of 
that region and made them pay him tribute. After 
twelve years of servitude these kings rebelled. Che- 
dorlaomer came again and gained a great victory 
and carried off a rich booty. Even Lot who dwelt 
in that region was carried off. Abraham with his 
318 trained servants and some confedates fell upon 
Chedorlaomer by night and surprised him and res 
cued the captives. What became of Chedorlaomer 
afterwards is not known. 

THE LOST TRIBES. 

The great Assyrian monarchs conquered the 
northwestern part of Persia which was inhabited by 
the Medes, a sister people to the Persians. They 
also extended their conquests to the westward and 
conquered Syria and Samaria. They carried off the 
"Ten Tribes of Israel" into captivity and settled 
them in the land of the Medes, the regions about 
Lake Oroomiah, and no doubt the descendants of 
the "Lost Tribes" dwell in that part of Persia to this 
day. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 229 

EARLY HISTORY OF MEDIA. 

Under king Cyaxares the Medes threw off the As- 
syrian yoke, and allying themselves with Nabopolas- 
ser, the father of the great Nebuchadnezzar, they 
captured and destroyed Nineveh in the year 606 B. 
C. They then extended their conquests westward 
into Asia Minor. Here they ran up against the Ly- 
dians, who then held Asia Minor. Many fierce wars 
were fought between the Medes and the Lydians. 
During one of these battles the sun was suddenly 
eclipsed, and the day turned into a dark night. This 
so terrified the superstitious combatants that both 
parties were eager to conclude peace. The river 
Halys in Armenia was made the boundary line, and 
the peace was cemented by a marriage between the 
daughter of the Lydian King and Astyages the son of 
King Cyaxares. This Cyaxares had some years be- 
fore given his daughter, Amytis, in marriage to Ne- 
buchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Upon the death of 
Cyaxares his son Astyages succeeded to the throne 
of Media, and about the same time the celebrated 
Croesus succeeded to the Lydian throne. Thus the 
three great monarchs of that day, Nebuchadnezzar, 
Astyages, and Croesus were brothers-in-law and 
formed a sort of triple alliance against the rising 
power of Persia. 

CYRUS THE GREAT. 

Cyrus the great was the son of Cambyses, king of 
Persia, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of 
Media. Of his childhood the following story is 
told: King Astyages had a remarkable dream 
which his soothsayers interpreted to mean that his 



230 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

grandson born of Mandane was destined to become 
king of Media. Astyages, fearing that his grandson 
might dethrone him, decided to have the child pnt 
to death. Accordingly he secured the child and 
handed him over to Harpagus his most trusted ser- 
vant with instructions to have him put to death with- 
out fail. Haspagus promised, but dared not carrv 
out the order himself. He handed the child to a 
mountain shepherd with strict orders to put the 
child to death and to show the dead body to his ser- 
vants as evidence that the deed had been done. The 
shepherd took the child to his home. His wife who 
was mourning the death of her own child persuaded 
her husband to expose their own dead child and to 
keep the royal child as their own. This was done. 
The servants of Harpagus were shown the dead 
body of the shepherd's son and reported to Harpagus 
that the child had verily been put to death for they 
had seen the body exposed. 

After ten years the children of the village were 
playing one day and choose this shepherd's son 
(Cyrus) to be their king. One of the sons of a noble- 
man refused to obey the king's orders, and the boy- 
king accordingly had him severely scourged. The 
boy as often happens ran crying to his father who 
at once complained to King Astyages. H.e sum- 
moned the boy-king Cyrus and inquired why he had 
presumed to scourge the son of a nobleman. Cyrus 
replied, "When your subjects refuse to obey your 
orders what do you do?" "I punish them of course," 
replied the king. "And that is what I did," said 
Cyrus. "The boys choose me king and I simply en- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 231 

forced the king's orders." The beauty, talents, and 
intelligence of the boy showed plainly that he was 
not the son of the herdsman. Upon inquiry the 
truth was made known to Astyages, who feared 
greatly and would have put Cyrus to death, but the 
soothsayers persuaded him that he need not fear, for 
Cyrus had already been king, and the dream perhaps 
had no other or deeper meaning. 

The king accordingly spared his life and became 
very fond of him. Cyrus grew up at the King's court 
and became a brave and popular youth, excelling in 
all manly sports. His grandfather, Astyages, was 
much given to drinking and feasting. On one oc- 
casion Cyrus was to serve as his butler and hand him 
his wine. As Cyrus handed the king the cup he neg- 
lected to touch it with his lips as the custom was. 
The king asked for the reason of this omission. Cy- 
rus replied, "There is poison in the cup." The king 
in great agitation asked him how he knew that. 
"Because," said Cyrus, "yesterday I saw you drink 
the same poison until you were unable to walk and 
you spoke very foolishly." The king, however, was 
not afraid of that poison. 

THE FALL OF MEDIA AND LYDIA. 

Upon the death of his father Cambyses, Cyrus 
returned to the little kingdom of Persia and became 
its king. Upon invitation of some of the Medes, he 
marched against his grandfather, Astyages, and, as 
had been predicted, dethroned him and united the 
two sister kingdoms and became the first king of the 
Medes and Persians and the founder of the Medo- 
Persian Empire. 



232 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Croesus, king of Lydia, now felt it his duty to 
avenge the wrongs of his brother-in-law, Astyages. 
and if possible restore him to his throne. He ac- 
cordingly prepared to make war upon Cyrus. But 
anxious to know what the result of such an under- 
taking might be, he sent to inquire of the Delphic 
Oracle and received the reply that if he made war 
upon Cyrus, he would destroy a great kingdom. 
Interpreting this ambiguous answer favorably, he 
marched against Cyrus and was defeated and captur- 
ed in his own capital city of Sardis. When he com- 
plained that the oracle had deceived him, he was 
asked whether he had not destroyed a great king, 
dom. 

Herodotus tells us that Cyrus was about to burn 
the captive king, when Croesus called out, "Solon! 
Solon !" Wishing to know the meaning of this ex- 
clamation, Cyrus enquired and received the follow- 
ing reply: "Many years before, the wise Athenian, 
Solon, had visited the court of Croesus and seen all 
the wealth and glory of this the richest of kings. 
Croesus thinking that Solon was especially impress- 
ed with his wealth and magnificence asked him whom 
he considered the happiest person in the world. 
Solon named some person that had died doing his 
duty. Croesus, surprised and disappointed, asked 
him whom he considered the second happiest man 
in the world. Solon now named a similar case. 
Croesus, disappointed and angered, asked, "And do 
you not regard me happy?" Solon replied, "Count 
no man happy till you know the manner of his 
death." 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 233 

This story impressed Cyrus so forcibly that he 
changed his purpose and made Croesus his friend 
and adviser. 

Thus was the Persian power extended to the 
westernmost end of Asia and to the very doors of 
Europe by Cyrus the Great. 

THE FALL OF BABYLON. 

The next kingdom to fall under the great Persian 
monarch was Babylon. The great Nebuchadnezzar 
who had carried the Jews into captivity had now 
been dead over twenty years. Upon his throne sat 
a man of a different family named Nabonadius, who 
associated with him in the kingdom his son Belshaz- 
zar. Nabonadius, it appears, was out on the open 
plains fighting Cyrus while Belshazzar was left in 
charge of the strong-walled city of Babylon. "And 
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand 
of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 
Belshazzar while he tasted the wine, commanded to 
bring .the golden and silver vessels which his father 
Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which 
was in Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his 
wives and his concubines, might drink therein. 
Then, they brought the golden vessels that were 
taken out of the temple of the house of God which 
was at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his 
wives and his concubines drank in them. They 
drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of sil- 
ver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." 

But in the midst of this wicked revelry, the king 
beheld with terror a handwriting upon the wall. 
"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," were the words writ- 



234 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ten. These were interpreted by captive Daniel to 
mean. "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and 
finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and 
art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and 
given to the Medes and Persians." 

"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the 
Chaldeans slain." 

THE PROCLAMATION OF CYRUS. 

Cyrus was not an idolater. The Persians were 
Zoroastrians and believed in one God, the Creator 
of heaven and earth. Cyrus found among the 
various tribes of Babylon a peculiar people who 
likewise were no idolators. Upon inquiry he learned 
their history, and moved by the Lord he issued the 
following proclamation: 

"Thus saith Cyrus King of Persia, the Lord God 
of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the 
earth; and he hath charged me to build him a house 
at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 

"Who is there among you of all his people? his 
God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, 
which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord 
God of Israel, (he is the God) which is in Jerusalem. 

"And whosoever remaineth in any place where 
he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with 
silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with 
beasts, besides the free will offering for the house of 
God that is in Jerusalem." 

Thus by the order of Cyrus the Great were the 
Jews after their long captivity allowed to return to 
their land and to rebuild their temple. Later kings 
confirmed this order and also gave orders for rebuild- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 235 

ing the city walls. The Jews then remained subject 
to the Persian kings until the Persian Empire fell 
under Alexander the Great two hundred years later. 

DEATH OF CYRUS. 

The latter part of the life of Cyrus is wrapped in 
obscurity, and the manner of his death is not known 
but Herodotus tells us that the following story is 
most worthy of credit. Having decided to make 
war upon the Massagetae, a fierce tribe that dwelt 
on the north of Persia, he marched against them 
with a large army. The Massagetae had no king 
but were ruled by a queen named Tomyris, a woman 
of great courage and might, and cunning and wise 

exceedingly. 

During the night before the great battle Cyrus 
had a dream in which he saw his cousin Darius the 
son of Hystaspes with two immense wings upon his 
shoulders. With the one wing, he overshadowed 
Asia and with the other Europe. At first Cyrus was 
inclined to suspect that his cousin was plotting 
against him, but he was warned that he was ap- 
proaching his end and that Darius should be king of 

"PpT'si a . 

In the great battle that followed Cyrus was slain, 
and Queen Tomyris ordered his head to be severed 
from the body, and throwing it into a skin filled with 
blood she told him to drink his fill now of what he 
had so thirsted for during his life time. Be this 
story true or not, the body of Cyrus was taken to 
Pasargadae and there buried in sacred ground and 
his tomb may be seen to this day. 



236 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

CAMBYSES. 

Cyrus was succeeded by his oldest son Cambyses. 
who added Egypt to the kingdom of Persia. We are 
told that he sent to the pharaoh of Egypt and asked 
him for his daughter in marriage. The pharaoh not 
daring to disappoint so powerful a monarch, and at 
the same time unwilling to send his only and be- 
loved daughter to a strange land and a strange peo- 
ple, hit upon the dangerous expedient of sending a 
beautiful girl of royal blood, but not his daughter. 
The deception was discovered by Cambyses and he 
invaded and conquered Egypt in consequence. 

If we are to believe Herodotus Cambyses acted 
like a madman while down in Egypt. But Herodo- 
tus had all his information from the Egyptian priests 
who of course hated the Persians, and made out a 
bad story. Having heard of the Longlived Ethi- 
opians who dwelt to the south of Egypt he desired to 
conquer their country too. He accordingly sent 
spies into their country with presents to the king. 
These spies having arrived in that country and de- 
livered the king's presents they addressed the king 
as follows: "Cambyses, King of Persia, desirous of 
becoming your friend and ally, has sent us, bidding 
us confer with you, and he presents you with these 
gifts, which are such as he himself most delights in. v 
But the Ethiopians,. knowing that they came as 
spies replied. "The King of Persia has not sent you 
with these presents to me because he values my 
friendship, and you do not speak the truth for you 
have come here as spies. Neither is your king a just 
man for if he were he would not desire any other ter- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 23T 

ritory than his own, nor would he reduce people into 
servitude who have done him no harm. However, 
give him this bow, and say these words to him: 
"The King of the Ethiopians advises the King of 
the Persians, when the Persians can thus easily draw 
a bow of this size, then to make war upon the Long 
lived Ethiopians with more numerous forces; but 
until that time, let him thank the gods, who have 
not inspired the sons of the Ethiopians with a de- 
sire of adding another land to their own." 

The Ethiopians were a very strong and powerful 
race of men, reputed to live to the age of one hundred 
and twenty years. The bow very few Persians were 
able to draw at all. 

When Cambyses heard the reply from the king of 
the Ethiopians, he was filled with rage, and rash 
and impulsive as he was, he ordered his army to be 
set in motion at once without waiting to make the 
necessary preparations. It was not long before the 
supplies all gave out. The country through which 
they passed was a desert and starvation or a retrac- 
ing of their steps were the only alternatives. 

The king finally ordered a retreat. When he 
reached Egypt again, he found all the people rejoic- 
ing on every hand. The priests had announced that 
their god Osiris had appeared among them — a calf 
had been found bearing the marks of the god upon it, 
the incarnation of the god — hence the rejoicing. 
Cambyses was in a bad mood and took it into his 
head that they were rejoicing over his misfortune. 
He was told of the cause of their joy. He demanded 
to see the god. When the priests brought Apis, the 



238 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Calf-god, into the presence of the king, Cambyses 
drew his dagger and stabbed the calf in the thigh 
so that it died. Then bursting into a fit of laughter, 
he said, "Ye blockheads, are there such gods as these, 
consisting of flesh and blood, and sensible of steel? 
This truly is a god worthy of the Egyptians," 

Shortly after this Cambyses was informed that 
a usurper, who pretended to be his brother Smerdis, 
had ascended the throne of Persia. Now Cambyses 
had out of jealousy and fear put his brother Smerdis 
to death. The usurper was a Magian priest who 
had assumed the scepter, established the Magian fire- 
worship, and even issued an order stopping the build- 
ing of the temple at Jerusalem. Cambyses imme- 
diately set out for home. On mounting his horse 
one day he accidentally stabbed himself in the thigh. 
The wound was more serious than he supposed 
Mortification set in. His physicians told him that 
he would die. But he steadily refused to believe it 
for he said that it had been told him by an astrologer 
that his death would occur at Ecbatana. He had 
therefore studiously avoided going to Ecbatana, the 
capital of Media. He firmly believed in the predic- 
tion. After a few days, however, he was unable to 
go further. He was compelled to halt in a little vil- 
lage in Syria, He asked where they where and was 
told that the village was named Ecbatana in Svria. 
He now saw the fulfillment of the prediction and 
knew that he must die. He confessed the murder 
of his brother and charged his officers to put down 
the usurper and restore the government to the royal 
family. The Egyptian priests believed that the un- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 239 

timely death of Cambyses was a punishment for the 
sacrilege he had committed against their god Osiris, 
and pointed to the manner of his death as an evi- 
dence^ — a wound in the thigh. 

DARIUS HYSTASPES. 

Darius Hystaspes put down the imposter, restor- 
ed order and the Zoroastrian religion, gave orders 
to resume the work on the temple of Jerusalem, and 
reorganized the empire. He then entered upon a 
European campaign. Having collected a large 
army he crossed the Hellespont into Europe. He 
built a bridge across the lower Danube and crossed 
over into what is now southern Russia. He was 
making war upon the Scythian hordes. They had 
sent all their women and children and the greater 
part of their herds and flocks northward for safety. 
As Darius advanced they moved forward, never 
stopping to give him battle, always moving from 
place to place, and Darius pursuing from day to day. 
Finally Darius lost all patience and sent them word 
if they were men they should halt and give battle. 
The chief of the Scythians replied that they were 
not fleeing before Darius. They were doing now as 
they always do, moving from place to place. If 
Darius desired to follow them as he was doing they 
had no objection to it. As to fighting they had 
nothing to fight for, except the tombs of their ances- 
tors. Come and find them and then see if the Scyth- 
ians can fight. 

After some time Darius had spent all his sup- 
plies and was in a great strait. The Scythians hear- 
ing of the situation sent a herald to Darius bearing 



240 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

as gifts a bird, a frog, a mouse, and five arrows. 
These he delivered to Darius with the remark that 
if the Persians were wise they would discover the 
meaning of the gifts. 

The Persians consulted together. Darius was of 
the opinion that the Scythians meant to surrender 
to him— the mouse meaning the land, the frog the 
water, the bird the air, and the arrows the arms. All 
this the Scythians would deliver to Darius. But 
Gobryas, one of the seven foremost princes of Persia 
gave it as his opinion that the Scythians would say 
to the Persians, "Unless you fly away through the 
air like a bird, or hide in the earth like a mouse, or 
dive into the lakes like a frog we will shoot you to 
death with our arrows. His opinion prevailed 
among the Persian chiefs. 

Darius then decided to return. Now he had 
given orders to the Greeks who kept the bridge to 
destroy the bridge if they saw fit to do so if he were 
not back in sixty days. The time was up and he had 
not returned. If the Greeks should have destroyed 
the bridge he would be at the mercy of the Schyth- 
ians who hotly pursued him. To his great joy he 
found that the bridge had been preserved. He thus 
succeeded in making his retreat without loss or dis- 
aster. 

THE IONIAN REVOLT. 

Shortly after the Scythian campaign the Greek 
cities of Asia Minor with Miletus in the lead revolted 
from Darius. The Greek states of the continent of 
Europe failed to send aid to their struggling kins- 
men with the exception of Athens and a little city of 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 241 

Euboea. The struggle began with the burning of the 
Persian capital of Asia Minor, Sardis, and ended 
with the burning of Miletus. The Greek cities were 
all reduced under Persia again. After the revolt 
was put down the king inquired as to who the Athen- 
ians were and when told that they were only a little 
city state he was greatly enraged that so small a 
state should presume to interfere with his subjects. 
He appointed an officer whose duty it should be to 
arise at each meal and exclaim a O King, remember 
the Athenians/' 

The king made preparations for punishing the in- 
solent Athenians and to reduce all the Greek states. 
He sent heralds to Macedonia and the Greek cities 
demanding earth and water as tokens of submission. 
Macedonia and the Greek cities gave the earth and 
water except Athens and Sparta. The Athenians 
cast the heralds into a pit, and the Spartans, in true 
Spartan fashion cast the heralds, who demanded the 
earth and water, into a well and told them to help 
themselves. 

XERXES. 

Darius sent two expeditions against Greece both 
of which proved miserable failures. Before he could 
prepare for a third expedition he died and was suc- 
ceeded by his son Xerxes. Xerxes was at first in- 
clined to abandon his father's plan of conquering 
Greece, but was finally prevailed upon to take up 
this work. He ordered every province of his mighty 
empire to furnish supplies in men and equipments 
from Egypt in the west to India in the east and from 
the mountains of Armenia and Kurdistan to the Ara- 



242 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

bian desert and the Indian ocean. Several years 
were spent in these mighty preparations. In the 
spring of 480 all the contingents were to meet in the 
western part of Asia Minor and prepare for the pass- 
age into Europe. Perhaps there never was so great 
an army or concourse of people under one command 
before or since in the whole history of the world. 
Some have estimated that there were in all men, 
women, children, soldiers, sailors, servants, as many 
as five million. These figures are of course exag- 
erated. Each nation had its own peculiar uniform 
and weapons of warfare. Xerxes had employed 
skillful architects to connect the two shores of the 
Hellespont by a bridge. But no sooner was the 
work finished than a storm arose and shattered the 
whole work. When Xerxes heard of this he was ex- 
ceedingly indignant and commanded that the sea 
should be stricken with three hundred lashes with a 
scourge, and that a pair of fetters should be let down 
into the sea. He is also said to have sent instru- 
ments to brand the sea. He charged those who flog- 
ged the waters to exclaim to the sea, "Thou bitter 
water, thy master inflicts this punishment upon thee, 
because thou hast injured him. The king will cross 
over thee, whether thou wilt or not. It is with jus- 
tice that no man sacrifices to thee for thou are both 
a deceitful and briny sea." He also ordered the 
heads of the architects and builders to be struck off. 
Other engineers were then employed to bridge the 
strait the second time. 

THE CROSSING OF THE HELLESPONT. 

Xerxes had ordered a lofty throne of white mar- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 243 

ble to be erected at Abydos, which he ascended to 
view his immense army and fleet before crossing 
over into Europe. As he stood there surveying the 
countless hosts, stretching as far as his eyes could 
reach, and then on the other hand the immense fleet 
covering the bosom of the sea, his eyes sparkled with 
pride and satisfaction. Suddenly he looked over the 
strait into Europe and his eyes filled with tears. His 
uncle, Artabanus, who stood near him asked the 
meaning of this sudden change of feeling, and the 
king replied: "When I saw this mighty armament 
and all these thousands and thousands of people all 
subject to my smallest wish I was filled with exulta- 
tion, but when I looked over to the other side of the 
strait and reflected how short this glory lasts and 
that in one hundred years not one of these shall be 
liivng my heart was filled with pain and sorrow and 
my eyes with tears.' 7 

They now made preparations for the passage. 
The next morning as the sun arose they burnt all 
manner of perfumes and strewed the road with myr- 
tle branches. Xerxes poured a libation from a gold- 
en cup into the sea and offered up a prayer that no 
accidents might attend him and prevent him from, 
subduing Europe. He then threw the golden cup 
and a golden bowl and a sword into the sea perhaps 
as a peace offering, having repented that he had 
cursed and scourged the sea before. 

When these ceremonies were performed the pass 
age across the bridge began. This passage lasted 
sven days and seven nights. Xerxes is said to have 
crossed over last of all. 



244 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

AT THERMOPYLAE. 

The forces collected by the Greeks to oppose this 
immense horde were inexcusably small. A mere 
handful of men under the heroic Leonidas of Sparta 
were stationed at the pass of Thermopylae. When 
the intrepid Leonidas was told of the countless num- 
bers of the enemy and that their arrows would fly 
so thick as to obscure the sun he replied: "So much 
the better, we can then fight in the shade." When 
Xerxes heard that a few hundred or thousand men 
were stationed in the pass to oppose his passage he 
regarded them as madmen who would come to their 
senses when they beheld the immense hosts of the 
enemy. He sent orders to Leonidas to deliver up 
his arms. Leonidas in Spartan style replied: "Come 
and take them." 

Xerxes ordered a chosen body of Medes to ad- 
vance against the presumptuous foes and bring them 
into his presence. The Medes fought bravely, but 
to no purpose. After the battle had lasted several 
hours, resulting in heavy losses to the Persians, 
Xerxes sent out his ten thousand "Immortals." But 
they were no more successful than the Medes. 
Xerxes is said to have leaped three times from his 
seat on a lofty throne when he beheld the repulse of 
his troops and especially of his immortals. 

The attack was renewed the next day but with 
no better success. The king was beginning to des- 
pair of success when a treacherous Greek pointed 
out to the Persians a secret path across the moun- 
tains. Most of the Greeks now abandoned their 
posts, but the devoted Spartans, who must never de- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 245 

sert a post, and a few of the others remained and 
were cut down to a man. A monument was raised 
to them bearing the inscription: 

"Go, stranger, and to Lacedemon tell 
That here, obedient to her laws, we fell." 

RETURN OF XERXES. 

Athens was soon laid in ashes, and thus the 
wrongs done Darius were avenged, but in the great 
naval battle of Salamis the greater part of the great 
Persian fleet was annihilated and Xerxes in great 
fear fled precipitately from Greece across the Helles- 
pont into Asia, leaving to his general Mardonius the 
task of reducing the rest of the Greeks. 

In the great battle of Plataea the following year 
the rest of the Persian army was defeated and ut- 
terly routed, and thus ended the great expedition of 
Xerxes which had cost so much treasure and so many 
lives. Xerxes returned to his palace and never 
again attempted an expedition against the Greeks. 
He spent the rest of his life in luxury and idleness, 
He is in all probability the Ahasuerus of the bible 
as that is the Hebrew name corresponding to the 
Greek Xerxes. His character too seems to accord 
well with that of Ahasuerus. 

DARIUS AND ALEXANDER. 

The last of the kings of the old Persian Empire 
was Darius Codamanus. He was one of the best 
and at he same time one of the most unfortunate 
of Persian kings. He had the misfortune of being 
a contemporary of Alexander the Great. For under 
that great leader Europe was to return the visit that 
Asia had made to her under Darius and Xerxes near- 



246 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ly two centuries before. 

What a contrast between the crossing of the Hel- 
lespont by Xerxes and Alexander the Great; and 
what a contrast between the results of the two cross- 
ings. Alexander crossed with only a few thousand 
cavalry and thirty-five thousand foot soldiers. He 
quickly reduced all Asia Minor and then met and ut 
terly routed Darius in the celebrated battle of Issus. 
(333 B. C.) Darius fled leaving his mother, his wife, 
two daughters, and a little son as captives in the 
hands of Alexander. 

That evening as Alexander was dining with his 
friends, a loud cry of lamentation was heard from 
the tent of the captive queens and princesses. Up- 
on inquiry Alexander learned that the captives had 
received the royal mantle which Darius had thrown 
off in his hurried flight, and supposing that the king 
had been slain, they gave expression to their great 
sorrow and distress. Alexander sent them the com 
forting assurance that Darius had escaped unhurt 
and the following day in company with his most in- 
timate friend, Hephaestion, he made a visit to the 
royal captives. Sysiganibis, the mother of Darius, 
arose and bowed herself before Hephaeston thinking 
that he was Alexander as he was taller and looked 
more like a king than Alexander. Being informed 
of her mistake she feared greatly, thinking that she 
had mortally offended the king, and tried to atone 
for her error. But Alexander comforted her say- 
ing, "My good mother, you were not mistaken, for 
Hephaestion is also an Alexander." He then told 
the queen-mother that she could select as many of 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 247 

the noble Persian dead as she desired and have them 
buried in Persian style at his expense. The good 
woman could not find words to express her surprise 
at his magnanimity nor her gratitude for his kind- 
ness. She availed herself of his offer very sparingly, 
for she did not wish to impose upon his liberality. 

ALEXANDER IN JERUSALEM. 

While Alexander was besieging Tyre he sent to 
the Samaritans and the Jews demanding them to 
surrender to him and to send him supplies. The 
Samaritans complied with this order, but the Jews 
replied that they had taken an oath of fealty to the 
Persian king and would remain faithful to their 
oath. After the fall of Tyre, Alexander set out for 
Jerusalem to punish the insolence of the Jews, as 
thoroughly as he had punished the Tyrians. 

In this imminent danger Jaddus, the high-priest 
sought the Lord, and gave orders for the offering up 
of public prayers for safety and protection. In the 
night he was directed in a vision to strew the city 
with flowers, to set open all the gates, and go cloth- 
ed in his pontifical robes, with all the priests dress- 
ed in their vestments, and all the people clothed in 
white to meet Alexander. This direction was punc- 
tually obeyed. 

The neighboring peoples expected that the wrath 
of Alexander was so great that he would certainly 
punish the insolent high-priest and destroy the city 
of Jerusalem as he had done with Tyre. Flushed 
with joy on that account they waited in expectation 
of feasting their eyes upon the calamity of a people 
to whom they bore a mortal hatred. 



248 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

When the Jews heard of the approach of Alex- 
ander they marched out in solemn procession to meet 
him, led by their high-priest. As Alexander ap- 
proached he was struck with the appearance of the 
high-priest, on whose mitre and forehead a golden 
plate was fixed, bearing the name of God upon it. 
As soon as the king saw the high-priest he advanced 
to meet him with every mark of respect, bowed his 
body, and adored the God whose name he saw, and 
saluted him who wore it with religious veneration. 
The Jews surrounded Alexander, raised their voices 
into a great shout, and wished him every kind of 
prosperity. All spectators were seized with inex- 
pressible surprise. Parmenio recovered himself 
from the astonishment and asked why he whom 
everybody adored should adore the high priest of the 
Jews. But Alexander replied : "I do not adore the 
high-priest, but the God whose minister he is; for 
while I was at Dia in Macedonia, my mind wholly 
fixed upon the designs of the Persian war, as I was 
reflecting upon the means of conquering Asia, this 
very man, dressed in the same robes, appeared to me 
in a dream, exhorted me to banish every fear, bid 
me cross the Hellespont boldly, and assured me that 
God would march at the head of my army, and give 
me the victory over that of the Persians. 

Josephus adds that the high-priest conducted the 
king into Jerusalem and showed him the book of 
Daniel and the prophecy in which Daniel declares 
that a Greek should destroy the empire of the Per- 
sians. Alexander was greatly pleased, and on the 
following day bade the Jews ask what favors they 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 249 

pleased of him. The high-priest desired that they 
might enjoy the laws of their fathers, and might pay 
no tribue on the seventh year. He granted them 
all they desired. He also granted the same pri- 
vileges to the Jews in Babylon and Media. 

THE DEATH OF DARIUS ' WIFE. 

After Alexander had conquered Egypt and set 
out upon his march for new conquests in Persia news 
was brought him that the wife of Darius had died. 
He went at once to the tent of mourning. He found 
the queen-mother and the two young daughters of 
Darius bathed in tears. He consoled them in so kind 
and gentle a manner as to show that he himself was 
deeply afflicted. He caused the funeral obsequies to 
be performed with the utmost splendor. 

The news of this death was carried to Darius by 
a eunuch, who succeeded in making his escape. 
Darius was deeply afflicted by this sad news, and 
especially as the queen could not receive the funeral 
rites befitting her rank. But when he was informed 
that her funeral had been performed with all pos- 
sible magnificence, and when he learned of all the 
kindness of Alexander, he is said to have lifted his 
hands to heaven and to have offered the following 
prayer: "Ye gods, who preside over the birth of 
men and who dispose of kings and empires, grant 
that, after having raised the fortunes of Persia from 
its dejected state, I may transmit it to my descen- 
dants with the Same lustre in which I received it, in 
order that, after having triumphed over my enemies, 
I may acknowledge the favors which Alexander has 
shown in my calamity to persons who are most dear 



250 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

to me; or, if the time ordained by the fates has at 
last come, or it must necessarily happen, from the 
anger of the gods, or the ordinary vicissitudes of 
human affairs, that the Empire of Persia must end; 
grant that none but Alexander may ascend the 
throne of Cyrus." 

THE DEATH OF DARIUS. 

Another great battle followed on the plains of 
Arbela east of the Tigris. Darius was again put 
to rout and fled with a part of his army into the east- 
ern provinces of Persia. Alexander marched down 
into the heart of old Persia and left his captives at 
Siisa, their old home, where they were no longer cap- 
tives. 

After organizing the government and appoint- 
ing governors, he once more set out in pursuit of 
Darius. By this time Darius was himself a captive 
in the hands of one of his generals who had rebelled 
against him. Bessus the traitor general was pur- 
sued by Alexander into Hyrcania. Here Darius re- 
fused to follow any further. He would rather fall 
into the hands of Alexander. He was accordingly 
dispatched by the traitors and left covered with 
wounds. 

A Macedonian soldier coming up found the dying 
Jving, who had still strength enough to ask for water. 
It was at once brought him. Somewhat revived by 
the drink he was able to speak. He felt happy to 
Jmow that there was some one near who could un- 
derstand him and receive his dying words. He died 
in Alexander's debt, and sent him a multitude of 
thanks for all the kindness he had shown his mother. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 251 

his wife, and chidren, whose lives he had not only 
spared, but restored to their former splendor. He 
prayed that Alexander might be victorious and be- 
come the monarch of the whole world. "Give him 
thy hand,' 7 he said to the Macedonian, "as I give thee 
mine, and carry him in my name the only pledge I 
am able to give of my gratitude and affection." 
Having said this he breathed his last. 

Alexander came up a few minutes afterwards, 
and seeing the prostrate body of the king, he shed 
generous tears over his fallen foe. He ordered the 
body to be embalmed and sent it to Sysigambis in 
order that it might be interred with the honors due 
to deceased kings of Persia, and be entombed with 
his ancestors, 

ALEXANDER AT BABYLON. 

After his conquest of all the eastern lands up to 
and including northwestern India, Alexander came 
to Babylon and established his capital there. He 
married the daughter of Darius and encouraged in 
every way the fusion of the Greeks and the Persians. 

But in the midst of his busy life, in the midst of 
his improvements, and new plans for conquests, he 
suddenly died, at the early age of thirty-three and 
his kingdom was soon divided. The eastern half 
including Persia proper soon fell under the Par- 
thians who ruled it until the third century of our 
era. 

CHOSROES II. 

The new Persian Empire was established by Ar- 
dashir, or Artaxerxes, who claimed to be a descen 
dant of the ancient royal family of Persia. It wag 



X 



252 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

against these princes of the Sassanidae dynasty 
that the old emperors of Eome and Constantinople 
were constantly warring. The most celebrated of 
these rulers was perhaps Chosroes II, who wrested 
from the emperor of Constantinople province after 
province, captured Antioch and Jerusalem, and car- 
ried off from the latter place the fragments of the 
true cross which the mother of Constantine had 
found and placed in the church at Jerusalem. Chos 
roes also reduced Asia Minor and established his 
camp within sight of Constantinople itself. 

After these conquests he retired for a time to en- 
joy the luxuries of his palace at Dastagerd beyond 
the Tigris. "Six thousand guards successively 
mounted before the palace gate; the service of the 
interior apartments was performed by 12,000 slaves; 
and the various treasures of gold, silver, gems, silk, 
and aromatics, were deposited in a hundred subter- 
raneous vaults. The voice of flattery, and perhaps 
of fiction, is not ashamed to compute the 30,000 rich 
hangings that adorned the walls; the 40,000 columns 
of silver, or more probably of marble and plated 
wood, that supported the roof; and the 1,000 globes 
of gold suspended in the dome, to imitate the mo- 
tions of the planets and the constellations of the 
Zodiac. 

"While the Persian monarch contemplated the 
wonders of his art and power, he received an epistle 
from an obscure citizen of Mecca, inviting him to ac- 
knowledge Mohammed as the prophet of God. He 
rejected the invitation and tore the epistle. "It is 
thus," exclaimed the Arabian prophet, "that God 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 253 

Avill tear the kingdom and reject the supplications of 
Chosroes." (Gibbon). 

The predictions of Mohammed were soon fulfilled. 
Heraclius the Emporer of Constantinople suddenly 
roused himself and in three glorious campaigns re- 
gained all the provinces which he had lost during the 
early part of his reign. And shortly after the death 
of Mohammed all Persia was overrun by the forces of 
the Caliphs and from that time to this the rulers of 
Persia have been followers of the Prophet of Mecca. 



TALES FROM PERSIAN LITERATURE. 

(SBLKCTKD.) 

THE JUDGMENT OF A KING. 

I have heard, that a certain ^monarch having com- 
manded a captive to be put to death, the poor wretch, 
in a fit of despair, began to abuse and reproach the 
king, in his own language; according to the saying, 
"Whosoever washeth his hands of life, uttereth 
whatever is in his heart." "A man without hope 
speaketh boldly; as a cat, when driven to despair, 
seizeth the dog; in the time of need, when it is im- 
possible to escape, the hand graspeth the sharp- 
edged sword." The king asked, "What doth he 
say?" One of the viziers, who was of a benevolent 
disposition, replied, "O, my Lord, he said, the Al- 
mighty befriendeth him who stifleth his anger, and 
is merciful to his fellow creatures." The king had 
compassion on him, and spared his life. Another 



254 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

vizier, of a contrary temper said, "It becometh not 
persons of our rank to speak anything but truth in 
the presence of monarchs; that man reviled the king, 
and spoke indecently." The king was displeased at 
his speech, and said, "I am more satisfied with that 
falsehood, than with this truth, which you have ut- 
tered: because that was well intended, and this is 
founded on malignity; and the sages have declared, 
that falsehood mixed with good advice, is preferable 
to truth tending to excite strife." 

A BANDIT. 

A gang of Arabian robbers had assembled on the 
top of a mountain, and blocked up the road of a 
caravan. The inhabitants were distressed by their 
strategems, and the troops of the sultan over power- 
ed ; because the thieves, having possessed themselves 
of a fortress on the summit of the mountain, made 
this stronghold their fixed residence. The counsel- 
lors of the king's party consulted together how to 
remove this grievance; because if they were suffered 
to continue any time in this state, they would be- 
come too powerful to be subdued. The tree that has 
only just taken root, may be pulled up by the 
strength of a man; but should it continue some time 
in that state, it could not be eradicated even by a 
windlass. It is possible to stop the course of a spring 
with a bodkin, which when formed into a full stream, 
cannot be forded by an elephant. They came to the 
determination to send one as a spy, to watch the op- 
portunity when the thieves should be gone to at 
tack a tribe, and the place evacuated. They de- 
tached a party of approved men, who concealed 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 255 

themselves in the pass of the mountains. In the 
evening, when the robbers returned from their ex- 
pedition with their plunder, they laid aside their 
weapons and deposited their spoil. The first enemy 
that attacked them was sleep. The gallant men 
sprang out of their ambush, and pinioned the rob- 
bers one after another. In the morning they were 
brought to the palace, where the king gave orders 
for them all to be put to death. There happened to 
be amongst them a lad, the freshness of whose cheeks 
resembled a rose-bud in early spring. One of the 
viziers kissed the foot of the king's throne, and bow- 
ed his head to the earth in intercession, saying, "This 
boy hath not, like the rest, tasted the fruit of the 
garden of life, nor even enjoyed the harvest of the sea- 
son of youth; I therefore hope from your Majesty's 
known clemency, that you will oblige your servant, 
by sparing the lad's blood." The king looked dis- 
pleased at these words, as they did not accord with 
his enlightened understanding, and he observed that 
an evil root will not thrive in a goodly shade. "To 
educate the worthless, is like throwing a walnut up- 
on a dome; it is better to eradicate them altogether; 
for to extinguish the fire, and suffer a spark to re- 
main; or to kill the snake, and preserve the young, 
is not acting like a wise man. Though the clouds 
should pour down the water of life, you would never 
gather fruit from the branch of the willow. Waste 
not your time on low people, for we can never obtain 
sugar from the reed." When the vizier heard these 
words he reluctantly approved of them, and praised 
the king for his just observation, saying, "May the 



256 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

king live forever! nothing can be more true than 
what my lord hath pronounced, that if he had con- 
tinued with these wicked wretches, he would natur- 
ally have fallen into their evil courses, and would 
have become one of them; but your servant enter- 
tains hopes, that this boy, by associating with men 
of probity, will receive instruction, and imbibe vir- 
tuous sentiments; for being but a child, his principles 
cannot be tainted with the lawless and inimical dis- 
position of that banditti. Lot's wife associated with 
the wicked, and his posterity forfeited the gift of 
prophecy; but the dog of the companions of the cave, 
by long converse with the virtuous, became a ra- 
tional creature." The vizier having thus concluded 
his speech, some of the courtiers joined in his pe- 
tition, till at length the king spared the life of the 
youth and said, "I grant your request, although I 
disapprove of it. Know you not what Zal said to 
Kustam? Consider not an enemy as weak and con 
temptible. I have frequently seen water issue from 
a small spring, which so increased in its course, that 
it carried away the camel with his load." The 
vizier then took the youth into his family, and edu- 
cated him with kindness and attention. An able 
master was appointed his tutor, who taught him 
how to ask a question, and return an answer with 
elegance, together with all the accomplishments 
requisite for court, so that his manners met with 
general approbation. Once when the vizier men- 
tioned to the king some particulars of the youths dis- 
position and manners, and was saying that wise edu- 
cation had made an impression on him, and that his 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 257 

former ignorance was rooted out of his mind, the 
king laughed at those expressions, and said, "The 
wolfs whelp will at length become a wolf, although 
it be brought up along with men." Two years after 
this conversation, a set of vagabonds of the town 
entered into a conspiracy with him, and taking an 
opportunity, he killed the vizier and his two sons, 
carried off an immense booty, and succeeding his 
father as head of the gang, became an avowed of- 
fender. The king upon being informed of this ex- 
claimed, "How can anyone form a good sword out 
of bad iron? O ye philosophers, it is impossible to 
convert a worthless wretch into a good man. The 
rain in whose nature there is no partiality, produces 
tulips in the garden, but only weeds in a barren soil. 
A sterile soil will not yield spikenard; waste not then 
seed upon it. To show favor to the wicked, is in fact 
doing injury to the good." 

A BOY ON SHIPBOAED. 

A king was sitting in a vessel with a Persian 
slave. The boy having never before seen the sea, 
nor experienced the inconvenience of a ship, began to 
cry and lament, and his whole body was in a tremor. 
Notwithstanding all the soothings that were offered, 
he would not be pacified. The king was much an- 
noyed, but no remedy could be found. A philoso- 
pher, who was in the ship, said, "If you will com- 
mand me, I will silence him." The king replied, "It 
will be an act of great kindness." The philosopher 
ordered them to throw the boy into the sea, and after 
several plunges, they laid hold of the hair of his head 
and dragging him towards the ship, he clung to the 



258 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

rudder with both his hands. 

When he got out of the water, he sat down quiet- 
ly in a corner of the vessel. The king was pleased,, 
and asked how this was brought about. The phil- 
osopher replied, "At first he had never experienced 
the danger of being drowned; neither knew he the 
safety of a ship." In like manner, he knoweth the 
value of prosperity who hath encountered adversity. 

SUBJECTS WHO FEARED THE KING. 

They asked King Hormuz, "What crime have you 
found in your father's ministers, that you ordered 
them to be imprisoned?" He replied, "I have not 
discovered any crime, but perceiving that they fear 
me greatly in their hearts, and do not place full re- 
liance on my promise, I Avas alarmed, lest, out of ap- 
prehension for their own safety, they might attempt 
my ruin; and therefore I have followed the advice 
of the sages, who say, 'Fear him who feareth you,, 
although you be able to cope with an hundred such. 
Dost thou not know, that the cat when desperate 
teareth out the tigers eyes with her claws? The 
snake biteth the foot of the peasant, from the dread 
of having its own head dashed against a stone.' " 

THE IMPROVIDENT DERVISH. 

T heard of a king who spent the night in jollity,, 
and when he was completely intoxicated, he said, 
"I have never in my life experienced a more pleasant 
moment than the present, for I have no thoughts 
about good or evil, and am not plagued with any 
one." A naked dervish, who had been sleeping with- 
out in the cold, said, "O king there is none equal to 
thee in power. I grant that you have no sorrow of 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 259 

your own; but what, then, hast thou no concern 
about us?" The king was pleased at this speech, 
and threw out of the window a bag of a thousand 
dinars, and said, "O dervish, hold out your skirt.'* 
He answered, "Whence shall I produce a skirt, who 
have not a garment?" 

The king the more pitted his weak estate, and in 
addition to the money sent him a dress. The der- 
vish having consumed the whole sum in a short time 
came again. Riches remain not in the hand of the 
pious, neither patience in the heart of a lover, nor 
water in a sieve. At a time when the king had no 
care about him, they related his case. He was an- 
gry and turned away his face from him. Whosoever 
watches not a lit opportunity, must expect nothing 
from the king's favor. Till you perceive a conven- 
ient time for conversing, lose not your own conse- 
quence by talking to no purpose. The king said, 
"Drive away this insolent extravagant fellow, who 
has dissipated such an immense sum in so short a 
time. The blockhead who burns a camphor candle 
in the daytime, you will soon see without oil in his 
lamp at night." 

THE WICKED TAX-COLLECTOR. 

I heard of a collector of the revenues, who deso* 
lated the houses of the subjects, in order to fill the 
king's coffers; regardless of the maxim of the sages, 
which says, "Whosoever offendeth the Most High to 
irain the heart of a fellow-creature, God will make 
that very creature the instrument of his destruction 
The burning flame from wild rue raises not such a 
smoke as is occasioned by the sighs of the afflicted 



2G9 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

heart. They say that the lion is the king of beasts, 
and the ass the meanest of animals; but the sages 
all agree, that the ass that carries burdens is prefer- 
able to the lion that destroyeth mankind. The poor 
ass, although devoid of understanding, yet, on ac- 
count of carrying burdens, is very valuable. The 
laboring ox and the ass are preferable to men who 
injure their fellow creatures." 

The king, on hearing some part of his base con- 
duct, ordered him on the rack, and tortured him to 
death. You will not obtain the approbation of the 
king, unless at the same time you strive to gain the 
hearts of his subjects. If you wish that God should 
be bountiful to you, do good unto his creatures. 

AN AFFLICTED KING. 

A certain king had a terrible disease. A number 
of Greek physicians agreed that there was no other 
remedy for this disease, but the gall of a man of some 
particular description. The king ordered such an 
one to be sought for, and they found a peasant's son 
with the proprieties which the physicians had de- 
scribed. The king sent for the lad's father and 
mother, and by offering a great reward gained their 
consent and the Cazy gave his decision that' it was 
lawful to shed the blood of a subject for restoring the 
health of the monarch. The executioner prepared to 
put him to death, upon which the youth turned his 
eyes toward heaven and laughed. The king asked, 
"What could there be in his present condition which 
could possibly excite mirth?" He replied, "Children 
look to their parents for affection; a suit is referred to 
the Cazy; and justice is expected from the monarch 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 261 

Now my father and mother, seduced by vain worldly 
considerations, having consented to the shedding of 
my blood, the judge having sentenced me to die, and 
the king, for the sake of his own health, having con- 
sented to my death, where am I to seek refuge ex- 
cepting in the high God, unto whom shall I prefer 
my suit, since it is against you that I seek justice?" 
The king's heart being troubled at these words the 
tears stood in his eyes, and he said, "It is better for 
me to die, than that the blood of an innocent person 
should be shed." He kissed the youth and embraced 
him, and after bestowing considerable gifts, set him 
at liberty. They say also, that in the same week the 
king was cured of his disease. 

This recalls a saying rehearsed by the elephant 
driver on the banks of the Nile, "If you are ignorant 
of the state of the ant under your foot, know that it 
resembles your own condition under the foot of the 
elephant." 

THE UNGRATEFUL WRESTLER. 

A person had arrived at the head of his profes- 
sion in the art of wrestling; he knew three hundred 
and sixty capital sleights in this art, and every day 
exhibited something new; but having a sincere re- 
gard for a beautiful youth, one of his scholars, he 
taught him three hundred and fifty-nine sleights, re- 
serving, however, one sleight to himself. The youth 
excelled so much in skill and in strength, that no 
one was able to cope with him. He at length 
boasted, before the Sutan, that the superiority 
which he allowed his master to maintain over him 
was out of respect to his years, and the consideration 



262 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

of having been his instructor; for otherwise he was 
not inferior in strength, and was his equal in point 
of skill. The king did not approve of this disre- 
spectful conduct, and commanded that there should 
be a trial of skill. An extensive spot was appointed 
for the occasion. The ministers of state, and other 
grandees of the court, were in attendance. The 
youth like a lustful elephant, entered with a percus- 
sion that would have moved from its base a moun- 
tain of iron. The master being sensible that the 
youth was his superior in strength, attacked with the 
sleight which he had kept to himself. The youth 
net being able to repel it, the master with both 
hands lifted him from the ground, and raising him 
over his head, flung him on the earth. The multi- 
tude shouted. The king commanded that a dress, 
and a reward in money, should be bestowed on the 
master; and reproved and derided the youth, for hav- 
ing presumed go put himself in competition with his 
benefactor, and for having failed in the attempt. 
He said, "O king, my master did not gain the victory 
over me through strength or skill; but there remain- 
ed a small part in the art of wrestling which he had 
withheld from me, and by that small feint he got 
the better of me." The master observed, "I reserved 
it for such an occasion as the present; the sages hav- 
ing said, Tut not yourself so much in the power of 
your friend, that if he should be disposed to be 
inimical, he may be able to effect his purpose. Have 
you not heard what was said by a person who had 
suffered injury from one whom he had educated? 
'Either there never was any gratitude in the world, 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 263 

or else no one at this time practices it. I never 
taught any one the art of archery, who in the end 
did not make a butt of me." 

THE JUDGMENT OF A SAGE. 

A vizier went to Zool-noon of Egypt, and asking 
his blessing, said, "I am day and night employed in 
the service of the king, hoping for some good from 
him, and dreading his wrath." Zool-noon wept, and 
said, "If I had served God as you have feared the 
king, I should have been reckoned in the number of 
the just. If there was no expectation of reward and 
punishment, the foot of the dervish would be on the 
celestial sphere; and the vizier feared God as much 
as he dreads the king, he would be an angel." 

AMEEN AND THE GHOOL. 

The natives of Isfahan, though not brave, are the 
most crafty and acute people upon earth, and often 
supply the want of courage by their address. An 
inhabitant of that city was once compelled to travel 
alone and at night through the dreadful valley of the 
"Angel of Death." He was a man of ready wit and 
fond of adventures, and, though no lion, had great 
confidence in his cunning, which had brought him 
safely through a hundred scrapes and perils that 
would have embarrassed or destroyed your simple 
man of valor. 

This man whose name was Ameen Beg, had 
heard many stories of the ghools of the valley, and 
thought it likely he might meet one. He prepared 
accordingly, by putting an egg and a lump of salt in 
his pocket. He had not gone far amidst the rocks, 
when he heard a voice crying, "Hallo, Ameen Beg 



264 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Isfahanee, you are going the wrong road, you will 
lose yourself; come this way, I am your friend Ker- 
reem Beg, I know your father old Kerbela Beg, and 
the street in which you were born." 

Ameen knew well the power the ghools had of 
assuming the shape of any person they choose, and 
he also knew their skill as genealogists, and their 
knowledge of towns as well as families; he had there- 
fore little doubt that this was one of those creatures 
alluring him to destruction. He, however, deter- 
mined to encounter him, and trust to his art for his 
escape. 

"Stop, my friend, till I come near you," was his 
reply. When Ameen came close to the ghool, he 
said, "you are not my friend Kerreem, you are a ly- 
ing demon, but you are just the being I desired to 
meet. I have tried my strength against all the men 
and all the beasts of the natural world, and I can 
find nothing that is a match for me. I came there- 
fore to this valley in the hope of encountering a 
ghool, that I might prove my powers upon him." 

The ghool, astonished at being addressed in this 
manner, looked keenly at him and said, "Son of 
Adam, you do not appear strong." "Appearances 
are deceiving," replied Ameen, "but I will give you 
a proof of my strength. There," said he, picking up 
a stone from the rivulet, "this contains a fluid, try 
if you can squeeze it, that it will flow out." The 
ghool took the stone, but after a short attempt, re- 
turned it saying that the thing was impossible. 

"Quite easy," said Ameen, taking the stone and 
placing it in the hand in which he had before put 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 265 

the egg; "Look there !" The astonished ghool, while 
he heard what he took to be the breaking of the 
stone, saw the liquid run from between Ameen's fin- 
gers, and all this apparently without an effort. 

Anieen aided by the darkness, placed the stone 
upon the ground while he picked up another of a 
darker hue. "This," said he, "I can see contains 
salt, as you will find if you can crumble it between 
your fingers." The ghool looked at it, and confess 
ed that he had neither knowledge to discover its 
qualities, nor strength enough to crush it. 

"Give it to me," said his companion impatiently, 
and having put it into the same hand with the piece 
of salt, he instantly gave the latter all crushed to the 
ghool, who seeng it reduced to powder, tasted it and 
remained in stupid astonishment at the skill and 
strength of this wonderful man. Neither was he 
without alarm lest his strength should be exerted 
against himself, and he saw no safety in resorting 
to the shape of a beast, for Ameen had warned him, 
that if he commenced any such unfair dealing, he 
would instantly slay him; for ghools, though long- 
lived are not immortal. 

Under such circumstances he thought his best 
plan was to conciliate the friendship of his new com- 
panion, till he found an opportunity of destroying 
him. "Most wonderful man," he said, "Will you 
honor my abode with your presence; it is quite at 
hand; there you will find every refreshment; and 
after a comfortable night's rest you can resume your 
journey." 

"I have no objection, friend ghool, to accept your 



266 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

offer, but mark me, I am, in the first place, very pas- 
sionate, and must not be provoked by any expres- 
sions which are in the least disrespectful; and in the 
second, 1 am full of penetration, and can see through 
jour designs as clearly as I saw into that hard stone 
in which I discovered salt; so take care you entertain 
none that are wicked, or you shall suffer." 

The ghool declared that the ear of his guest 
should be pained by no expression to which it did 
not befit his dignity to listen; and he swore by the 
head of his liege lord, the Angel of Death, that he 
would faithfully respect the rights of hospitality 
and friendship. 

Thus satisfied, Ameen followed the ghool 
through a number of crooked paths, rugged cliffs, 
and deep ravines, till they came to a large cave, 
which was dimly lighted. "Here," said the ghool, 
"I dwell, and here my friend will find all he can 
want for refreshment and repose.'' So saying he 
led him to various apartments, in which were hoard- 
ed every species of grain, and all kinds of mechan- 
dise, plundered from travelers who had been deluded 
to this den. 

"This will be sufficient for your supper, I hope," 
said the ghool, taking up a large bag of rice; a man 
of your prowess must have a tolerable appetite." 

"True," said Ameen, "but I ate a sheep, and as 
much rice as you have there before I proceeded on 
my journey. I am consequently, not hungry, but 
will take a little lest I offend your hospitality." "I 
must boil it for you," said the demon; "you do not 
eat grain and meat raw as we do. Here is a kettle," 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 267 

said he, taking up one lying amongst the plundered 
property. "I will go and get wood for a fire, while 
you fetch water with that," pointing to a bag made 
of the hides of six oxen. 

Ameen waited till he saw his host leave the cave 
for the wood, and then with great difficulty .he drag- 
ged the enormous bag to the bank of a dark stream 
which issued from the rocks at the other end of the 
cavern, and after being visible for a few yards dis- 
appeared under ground. 

"How shall I," thought Ameen, "prevent my 
weakness being discovered; this bag I could hardly 
manage when empty, when full it would require 
twenty strong men to carry it; what shall I do i 
shall certainly be eaten up by this cannibal ghool 
who is now only kept in order by the impression of 
my great strength. After some minutes reflection 
he thought of a scheme, and began digging a small 
channel from the stream, toward the place where his 
supper was preparing. 

"What are vou doing?" vociferated the ghool, as 
he advanced towards him; "I sent you for water to 
toil a little rice, and you have been an hour about 
it Cannot you All the bag and bring it away? 

' "Certainly I can," said Ameen. If I were con- 
W after all mv kindness, to show my gratitude 
merely by feats of brute strength, I could lift yonv 
Sream if you had a bag large enough to hold it; but 
beret" said Le, pointing to the channel he had begun 
"here is the commencement of a work m which the 
mind of man is employed to lessen the labor of his 
body This canal, small as it may appear, will carry 



268 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

a stream ■ to the other end of the cave^ in which I will 
construct a dam that you can open and shut at 
pleasure, and thereby save yourself infinite trouble 
in fetching water. But pray let me alone till it is 
finished/ 7 and he again began to dig. 

"Nonsense," said the ghool, seizing the bag and 
filling it; "I will carry the water myself, and I advise 
you to leave off your canal, as you call it, and follow 
me, that you may eat your supper and go to sleep; 
you may finish this fine work if you like it tomorrow 
morning." 

Ameen congratulated himself on this escape, and 
was not slow in taking the advice of his host. After 
having eaten heartily of the supper that was pre- 
pared, he went to repose on a bed made of the richest 
coverlets and pillows, which were taken from one of 
the store-rooms of plundered goods. The ghool, 
whose bed was also in the cave, had no sooner lain 
down than he fell into a sound sleep. The anxiety 
of Ameen's mind prevented him from following his 
example; he rose gently, and having stuffed a long 
pillow into the middle of his bed, to make it appear 
as if he were still there, he retired to a concealed 
place in the cavern to watch the proceedings of the 
ghool. The latter awoke a short time before day- 
light, and rising, went, without making any noise, 
towards Ameen's bed, where not observing the least 
stir, he was satisfied that his guest was in a deep 
sleep, so he took up one of his walking sticks, which 
was in size like the trunk of a tree, and struck a ter- 
rible blow at what he supposed to be Ameen's head. 
He smiled not to hear a groan, thinking he had de- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 269 

prived him of life; but to make sure of his work, he 
repeated the blow seven times. He then returned 
to rest, but had hardly settled himself to sleep, when 
Ameen, who had crept into the bed, raised his head 
above the clothes and exclaimed, "Friend ghool, 
what insect could it be that has disturbed me by its 
tapping? I counted the flap of its little wings seven 
times on the coverlet. These vermin are very an- 
noying, for though they cannot hurt a man, they 
disturb his rest!" The ghool's dismay on hearing 
Ameen speak at all was great, but that was increas- 
ed to perfect fright when he heard him describe seven 
blows,, any one of which would have felled an ele- 
phant, as seven flaps of an insect's wing. There was 
no safety, he thought, near so wonderful a man, and 
he soon afterwards arose and fled from the cave, 
leaving Ameen its sole master. 

When Ameen found his host gone, he was at no 
loss to conjecture the cause, and immediately began 
to survey the treasures with which he was surround- 
ed, and to contrive means for removing them to his 
home. 

After examining the contents of the cave, and 
arming himself with a matchlock, which had belong- 
ed to some victim of the ghool, he proceeded to sur- 
vey the road. He had, however, only gone a short 
distance when he saw the ghool returning with a 
large club in his hand, and accompanied by a fox. 
Ameen's knowledge of the cunning animal instantly 
led him to suspect that it had undeceived his enemy, 
but his presence of mind did not forsake him. "Take 
that," said he to the fox, aiming a ball at him from 



270 ABOUT PEKSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

his matchlock, and shooting him through the head; 
"Take that for your not performing my orders. That 
brute," said he, "promised to bring me seven ghools 
that I might chain them, and carry them to Ispahan, 
and here he has only brought you, who are already 
my slave." So saying, he advanced towards the 
ghool; but the latter had already taken to flight, and 
by the aid of his club bounded so rapidly over rocks 
and percipices, that he was soon out of sight. 

Ameen having well marked the path from the 
cavern, to the road, went to the nearest town and 
hired camels and mules to remove the property he 
had acquired. 

After making restitution to all who remained 
alive to prove their goods, he became, from what was 
unclaimed, a man of wealth, all of which was owing 
to that wit and art which ever overcome brute 
strength and courage. 

ABDULLA. 

In a sequestered vale of the fruitful province of 
Khorassan there lived a peasant called Abdulla. 
He had married a person in his own rank of life, who y 
though very plain in her appearance, had received 
from her fond father the fine name of Zeeba, or the 
beautiful; to which act of parental folly the good 
woman owed the few seeds of vanity that mixed in 
her homely character. It was this feeling that led 
her to name her two children Joseph and Fatima ; 
conceiving, no doubt, that the fortunate name of the 
son of Jacob would aid the boy in his progress 
through life; while there could be no doubt of her 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 271 

little girl receiving equal advantages from being 
named after the daughter of Mohammed. 

With all these family pretensions from high 
names, no man's means could be more humble or 
views more limited than those of Abdulla; but he 
was content and happy; he was strong and healthy, 
and labored for the khan, who owned the land on 
which his cottage stood — he had done so from youth, 
and had never left nor desired to leave, his na- 
tive valley. The wages of his labor were paid in 
grain and cloth, sufficient for the food and clothing 
of his family and himself; with money he was un- 
acquainted except by name. 

It happened, however, one day, that the khan 
was so well pleased with Abdulla's exertions that 
he made him a present of ten piastres. Abdulla 
could hardly express his thanks, he was so surprised 
and overjoyed at this sudden influx of wealth. The 
moment he could get away from his daily labor he 
ran home to his wife: — "There my Zeeba," said he, 
"there are riches for you !" and he spread the money 
before her. The astonishment and delight of the 
good woman was little less than that of her husband, 
and the children were called to share in the joy of 
their parents. "Well," said Abdulla, still looking 
at the money, "the next thing to consider is what 
is to be done with this vast sum. The khan has 
given me tomorrow as a holiday, and I do think, 
my dear wife, if you approve, I will go to the 
famous city of Meshed. I will pay my devotions at 
the shrine of the holy Imam Mehdee, and like a good 
Mohammedan deposit there two piastres, and then 



272 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

I will go to the great bazar, and purchase with the 
remainder every thing you, my dear wife and chil- 
dren, can wish; tell me what you would like best." 

"I will be moderate," said Zeeba; "I want nothing 
but a piece of handsome silk for a dress." "Bring 
me," said the strudy little Joseph, "a nice horse and 
a sword." "And me," said his sister, in a softer tone, 
"an Indian handkerchief and a pair of golden slip- 
pers." "Every one of these articles shall be here 
tomorrow evening," said Abdulla, as he kissed his 
happy family; and early next morning, taking a 
stout staff in his hand, he commenced his journey 
towards Meshed. 

When Abdulla approached the holy city his at- 
tention was first attracted by the cluster of splen- 
did domes and minarets, which encircled the tomb 
of the holy Imam Mehdee, whose roofs glittered with 
gold. When arrived at the gate of the sacred shrine, 
he stopped for a moment in silent awe, and asked a 
venerable priest, who was reading the Koran, if he 
might proceed, explaining at the same time his ob- 
ject. "Enter, my brother," said the old man; "be- 
stow your alms, and you shall be rewarded; for one 
of the most pious of the caliphs has said — Prayer 
takes a man half way to paradise; fasting brings 
him to its portals; but these are only opened to him 
who is charitable." 

Having deposited ,like a good and pious Mus- 
sulman, the fifth of his treasure on the shrine of 
the holy Imam, Abdulla went to the great bazar; on 
entering which his senses were quite confounded by 
the novel sight of the pedestrian crowd hurrying to 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 273 

and fro. He gazed with open month at every thing 
lie saw, and felt for the first time what an ignorant 
and insignificant being he had hitherto been. 

Entering a shop where there was a number of 
silks, snch as he had seen worn by the family of the 
khan, he inquired for their finest pieces. The shop- 
man looked at him, and observing from his dress 
that he was from the country, concluded he had a 
o-ood customer. With this impression he tossed and 
tumbled over every piece of silk in his shop. Abdul- 
la was so bewildered by their beauty and variety, 
that it was long before he could decide;, at last he 
fixed upon one. "I will take this/' he said, wrap- 
ping it up, and putting it under his arm; "What is 

the price?" 

"I shall only ask you, who are a new customer, 
said the man), "two hundred piastres." Abdulla 
stared, replaced the silk, and repeated in amazement 

_«Two hundred— piastres! you must be mistaken; 

do you mean such piastres as these?" taking one out 
of the eight he had'left in his pocket, and holding it 
up to the gaze of the astonished shopkeeper. "Cer- 
tainly I do," said the latter; "and it is very cheap at 
that price." "Poor Zeeba!" said Abdulla. "Poor 
who?" said the silk-merchant. "My wife," said Ab- 
dulla, "I will tell you all: I have worked hard for 
the khan of our village ever since I was a boy; I 
never saw money till yesterday, when he gave me 
ten piastres. I have given, like a good Mussulman 
a fifth of my wealth to the Imam Mehdee, and with 
the eight remaining piastres I intend to buy a piece 
of embroidered silk for my good wife, a horse and 



274 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

sword for my little boy, and an Indian handkerchief 
and a pair of golden slippers for my darling daugh- 
ter; and here you ask me two hundred piastres for 
one piece of silk. "Get out of my shop!" said the 
enraged vender of silks;" "here have I been wasting 
my valuable time, and rumpling my choicest goods, 
for a fool and madman! Go along to your Zeeba 
and your booby children." 

Abdulla muttered to himself as he went away, 
"No doubt this is a rascal, but there may be honest 
men in Meshed; I will try amongst the horse-dealers/ 
After much bartering he decided upon a smart little 
grey horse, with head and tail in the air. The de 
lighted peasant conceived Joseph on his back, and 
in a hurry to realize his vision, demanded the price. 
"Any other person but yourself," said the man> 
"should not have him for one piastre less than two 
hundred; but as I trust to make a friend as well as 
a bargain, I have persuaded my brother to take only 
one hundred and fifty. " The astonished Abdulla 
stepped back — "Why you horse-dealers," said he, 
"who I thought were such good men, are as bad 
as the silk-merchants!" He then recapitulated to 
his friend the rise of his present fortune, and all that 
had occurred since he entered Meshed. The man had 
hardly patience to hear him to a close; "And have 
I," said he, "been throwing away my friendship, by 
an over-zealous honesty to please a fool of a bumkin ! 
Get along to your Zeeba, and your Joseph, and your 
Fatima." 

So saying, he went away in a rage, leaving Ab- 
dulla in perfect dismay. He thought, however, he 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 275 

might still succeed in obtaining some of the lesser 
articles; he however met with nothing but disap- 
pointment; the lowest priced sword was thirty 
piastres, the golden slippers were twenty, and a 
small Indian handkerchief was twelve, being four 
piastres more than all he possessed. 

Disgusted with the whole scene, the godd man 
turned his steps towards home. As he was passing 
through the suburbs he met a holy mendicant ex- 
claiming, "Charity, charity! He that giveth to the 
poor lendeth to the Lord; and he that lendeth to the 
Lord shall be repaid a hundred-fold." "What is 
that you say?" said Abdulla. The beggar repeated 
his exclamation. "You are the only person I can 
deal with," said the good but simple peasant; "there 
are eight piastres — all I possess; take them, and use 
them in the name of the Almighty, but take care that 
I am hereafter paid a hundred-fold, for without it I 
shall never be able. to gratify my dear wife and chil- 
dren." And in the simplicity of his heart he re- 
peated to the mendicant all that had occurred. 

When Abdulla came within sight of his cottage, 
they all ran to meet him. The breathless Joseph was 
the first who reached his father: "Where is my horse 
and my sword?" "xlnd my Indian handkerchief and 
golden slippers?" said little Fatima, who had now 
come up. "And my silk dress?" said Zeeba, who 
was close behind her daughter. Abdulla shook his 
head, but would not speak a word till he entered his 
dwelling. He then seated himself on his coarse mat, 
and repeated all his adventures, every part of which 
was heard with temper till his last act, that of giv- 



276 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

ing his piastres to the mendicant. Zeeba loudly re- 
proached him with his stupidity and folly in thus 
throwing away the money he had obtained by the 
liberality of the khan, to whom she immediately 
went and gave information of all that had occurred. 
The enraged squire sent for Abdulla: "You block- 
head," said he, "what have you been about? I, who 
am a man of substance, never give more than a cop- 
per coin to these vagabond rascals who go about 
asking charity. Here,' 7 said he to the servants near 
him, "seize the fellow, and give him a hundred 
stripes !" The order was obeyed as soon as given. 

Early next morning Abdulla was awakened by a 
message, that the khan wanted him. Before he went 
he had forgiven his wife, who was much grieved 
at the punishment which her indiscretion had 
brought upon her husband. He also kissed his chil- 
dren, and bid them be of good heart, for he might 
yet, through God's favor, make amends for the dis- 
appointment he had caused them. When he came 
to the khan, the latter said, "I have found a job for 
you, Abdulla, that will bring you to your senses; 
here, in this dry soil, I mean to dig for water, and 
you must toil day after day till it is found." Upon 
the third day, when about six cubits below the sur- 
face, he came upon a brass vessel full of round white 
stones, which were beautiful from their smoothness 
and fine lustre. He tried to break one with his teeth, 
but could not. "Well," said he, "this is no doubt 
some of the rice belonging to the squire which has 
been turned into stones; I am glad of it — he is a cruel 
master; I will however take them home — they are 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 277 

very pretty ; and now I recollect I saw some very like 
them at Meshed for sale. But what can this be, 
said Abdulla to himself, disengaging another pot 
from the earth — "Oho! these are darker, they must 
have been wheat — but they are very beautiful; and 
here!" cried he, "these shining pieces of glass are 
finer and brighter than all the rest; but I will try if 
they are glass;" and he put one of them between two 
stones, but could not break it. 

Pleased with this discovery, and believing he had 
got something valuable, but ignorant what it was, 
he dug out all he could find, and putting them into a 
bag carefully concealed it even from his wife. His 
plan was, to obtain a day's leave from his master, 
and go again to Meshed, where he had hopes of sell- 
ing the pretty stones of various colors for as much 
money as would purchase the silk dress, the horse, 
the sword, the slippers, and the handkerchief. 

After some weeks hard labor at the well water 
was found. The khan was in good humor, and the 
holiday was granted. Abdulla departed before day- 
light, that no one might see the bag he carried; when 
close to Meshed, he concealed it near the root of a 
tree, having first taken out two handfuls of the pretty 
stones, to try what kind of a market he could make 
of them. He went to a shop where he had seen some 
like them. He asked the man, pointing to those in 
the shop, if he would buy any such articles? "Cer- 
tainly," said the jeweler, for such he was; "have you 
one to sell?" "One!" said Abdulla, "I have plenty. 
A whole bag full. Look here!" said Abdulla, taking 
out a handful, which so surprised the jeweler that 



278 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

it was some time before he could speak. "Will you 
remain here, honest man," said he, "for a moment," 
trembling as he spoke, "and I will return instantly." 
So saying he left the shop, but re-appeared in a few 
minutes with the chief magistrate and some of his 
attendants. "There is the man," said he; "I am in- 
nocent of all dealings with him: he has found the 
long lost treasure of Cyrus; his pockets are filled 
with diamonds, rubies, and pearls, in price and lustre 
far beyond any existing; and he says he has a bag- 
full." The magistrate ordered Abdulla to be searched 
and was then desired to show where he had depos- 
ited the bag, which he did; all were carefully sealed, 
and carried with Abdulla to the governor, by 
whom he was strictly examined. He told his whole 
history from first to last. But notwithstanding this, 
Abdulla, his family, and the treasures he had found, 
were a few days afterward despatched for Ispahan, 
under a guard of five hundred horsemen. 

During these proceedings at Meshed, extraordi- 
nary events occurred at Ispahan. Shah Abbas the 
Great saw one night in a dream the holy Imam Meh- 
dee, clothed in green robes. The saint, after looking 
steadfastly at the monarch, exclaimed, "Abbas, pro- 
tect and favor my friend!" On the following two 
nights the same vision appeared, and the same words 
were pronounced. The monarch threatened the 
chief astrologer and others with death, unless they 
relieved the anxiety of his mind before the evening 
of the same day. While preparations were making 
for their execution, the couriers from the governor 
of Meshed arrived, and the vizier, after perusing the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 279 

letters, hastened to the king. "Let the mind of the 
refuge of the world be at repose," he said; "for the 
dream of our monarch is explained. The peasant 
Abdulla of Khorassan, who, though ignorant and 
poor, is pious and charitable, and who has become 
the chosen instrument of Providence for discovering 
the treasures of Cyrus, is the revealed friend of the 
holy Imam Mehdee, who has command^; 1 that this 
good and humble man be honored by the protection 
and favor of the 'king of kings.' " 

The mind of Shah Abbas was quite relieved, and 
he ordered all his nobles and his army to accompany 
Mm a day's march from Ispahan to meet the friend 
of the holy Imam. Shah Abbas made the camels 
which carried Abdulla and his family kneel close to 
him, and aided, with his royal hands, to untie the 
cords by which the good man was bound, while 
others released his wife and children. A suit of the 
king's own robes were directed to be put upon Ab- 
dulla, and the monarch led him to a seat close to his 
throne : but before he would consent to be seated, he 
thus addressed his majesty. 

"O King of the Universe, I am a poor man, but 
I was contented with my lot, and happy in my fam- 
ily, till I first knew wealth. From that day my 
life has been a series of misfortunes: folly and am- 
bition have made me entertain wishes out of my 
sphere, and I have brought disappointment and mis- 
fortune on those I loved best; but now that my death 
is near, and it pleases your majesty to amuse your- 
self with a mock-honor to your slave, he is satisfied, 
if your royal clemency will only spare the lives of 



280 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

that kind woman and these dear children. Let them 
be restored to the peace and innocence of their native 
valley, and deal with me according to your royal 
pleasure." 

Abbas was- greatly moved. "Good and pious 
man," he said, "I intend to honor, not to slay thee. 
Thy humble and sincere prayers, and thy charitable 
offerings at the shrine of the holy Mehdee, have been 
approved and accepted. He has commanded me to 
protect and favor thee. Thou shalt stay a few days 
at my capital, to recover from thy fatigues, and re- 
turn as governor of that province from which thou 
hast come a prisoner. A wise minister, versed in 
the forms of office shall attend thee; but in thy piety 
and honesty of character I shall find the best quali- 
ties for him who is destined to rule over others. 
Thy good wife Zeeba has already received the silk 
dress she so anxiously expected; and it shall be my 
charge," continued the gracious monarch, with a 
smile, "to see Joseph provided with a horse and 
sword, and that little Fatima shall have her hand- 
kerchief and golden slippers." 

The manner as well as the expressions of the 
king dispelled all Abdulla's fears, and filled his heart 
with boundless gratitude. He was soon after nomi- 
nated governor of Khorassan, and became famous 
over the country for his humanity and justice. He 
repaired, beautified, and richly endowed the shrine of 
the holy Imam, to whose guardian care he ever as 
scribed his advancement. Joseph became a favorite 
of Abbas, and was distinguished by his skill in horse- 
manship, and by his gallantry. Fatima was mar- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 281 

ried to one of the principal nobles, and the good 
Zeeba had the satisfaction through life of being sole 
mistress in her family, and having no rival in the af- 
fection of her husband, who continued to cherish, 
in his exalted situation, those ties and feelings which 
had formed his happiness in humble life. 

AHMED THE COBBLEK. 

In the great city of Ispahan lived Ahmed the cob- 
bler, an honest and industrious man, whose wish 
was to pass through life quietly; and he might have 
done so, had he not married a handsome wife, who, 
although she had condescended to accept of him as, 
a husband, was far from being contented with his 
humble sphere of life. 

Sittara, such was the name of Ahmed's wife, was 
ever forming foolish schemes of riches and grandeur; 
and though Ahmed never encouraged them, he was 
too fond a husband to quarrel with what gave her 
pleasure; an incredulous smile or a shake of the 
head, was his only answer to her often told day- 
dreams. 

It hapi>ened one evening, while in this temper of 
mind, that she went to the Hemmam, where she saw 
a lady dressed in a magnificent robe, covered with 
jewels, and surrounded by slaves. This was the very 
condition Sittara had always longed for, and she 
eagerly inquired the name of the happy person. She 
learned it was the wife of the chief astrologer to the 
kinff. With this information she returned home. 
Her husband met her at the door, but was received 
with a frown; nor could all his caresses obtain a 
smile or a word; at length she said: 



282 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

"Cease your caresses ; unless you are ready to give 
me a proof that you do really and sincerely love me." 

"What proof of love/ 7 exclaimed poor Ahmed, 
"can you desire, which I will not give?" 

"Give over cobbling; it is a vile, low trade, and 
never yields more than ten or twelve dinars a day. 
Turn astrologer; your fortune will be made, and I 
shall have all I wish, and be happy." 

"Astrologer!" cried Ahmed, "astrologer! Have 
you forgotten who I am — a cobbler, without any 
learning — that you want me to engage in a profes- 
sion which requires so much skill and knowledge?" 

"I neither think nor care about your qualifica- 
tions," said the enraged wife; " all I know is, that if 
you do not turn astrologer immediately, I will be di- 
vorced from you tomorrow." 

The cobbler remonstrated, but in vain. The 
figure of the astrologer's wife, with her jewels and 
her slaves, had taken complete possession of Sittara's 
imagination. What could poor Ahmed do? he was 
no astrologer; but he was dotingly fond of his wife, 
and he could not bear the idea of losing her. He 
promised to obey; and having sold his little stock, 
bought an astrolabe, an astronomical almanac, 
and a table of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Fur- 
nished with these, he went to the market-place, cry- 
ing, "I am an astrologer! I know the sun, and the 
moon, and the stars, and the twelve sings of the 
zodiac; I can calculate nativities; I can fortell every 
thing that is to happen !" 

It so happened that the king's jeweler was pass- 
ing by. He was in great distress, having lost the 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 283 

richest ruby belonging to the crown. The jeweler 
no sooner heard the sound of the word astrologer, 
then he went up to Ahmed, told him what had hap- 
pened, and said, "If you understand your art, you 
must be able to discover the king's ruby. Do so, and 
I will give you two hundred pieces of gold. But if 
you do not succeed within six hours, I will use all 
my influence at court to have you put to death as an 
imposter. 

Poor Ahmed was thunderstruck. He stood long 
without being able to move or speak. Full of sad 
thoughts, he exclaimed aloud, "Oh woman, woman! 
thou art more baneful to the happiness of man than 
the poisonous dragon of the desert." 

The lost ruby had been secreted by the jeweler's 
wife, who, disquieted by those alarms which ever 
attend guilt, sent one of her female slaves to watch 
her husband. This slave, on seeing her master speak 
to the astrologer, drew near; and when she heard 
Ahmed, after some moments of apparent abstrac- 
tion, compare a woman to a poisonous dragon, she 
was' satisfied that he must know everything. She 
ran to her mistress, and, breathless with fear, cried. 
"You are discovered, my dear mistress, you are dis- 
covered by a vile astrologer." 

The jeweler's wife, hastily throwing on her veil, 
went in search of the dreaded astrologer. When she 
found him, she threw herself at his feet, crying, 
"Spare my honor and my life, and I will confess 

everything!" 

"What can you have to confess to me?" ex- 
claimed Ahmed, in amazement. 



284: ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

"Oh nothing! nothing with which you are not al- 
ready acquainted. You know too well that I stole 
the ruby from the king's crown. I did so to punish 
my husband, who uses me most cruelly; and I 
thought by this means to obtain riches for myself, 
and to have him put to death. But you, most won- 
derful man, from whom nothing is hidden, have dis- 
covered and defeated my wicked plan. I beg only 
for mercy, and will do whatever you command me." 

An angel from heaven could not have brought 
more consolation to Ahmed than did the jeweler's 
wife. He assumed all the dignified solemnity that 
became his new character, and said, "Woman! I 
know all thou hast done, and it is fortunate for thee 
that thou hast come to confess thy sin, and beg for 
mercy before it was too late. Return to thy house, 
put the ruby under the pillow of the couch on which 
thy husband sleeps; let it be laid on the side farthest 
from the door; and be satisfied thy guilt shall never 
be even suspected." 

The jeweler's wife returned home, and did as 
she was desired. In an hour Ahmed followed her, 
and told the jeweler he had made his calculations, 
and found by the aspect of the sun and moon, and by 
the configuration of the stars, that the ruby was at 
that moment lying under the pillow of his couch, on 
the side farthest from the door. The jeweler ran to his 
couch, and there, to his joy and wonder, found the 
ruby in the very place described. He came back to 
Ahmed, embraced him, called him his dearest friend 
and the preserver of his life, gave him the two hun- 
dred pieces of gold, declaring that he was the first 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 285 

astrologer of the age. 

Ahmed returned home, thankful to God for his 
preservation. His wife ran up to him, and exclaimed, 
"Well, my dear astrologer! what success?" 

"There! are two hundred pieces of gold; I hope 
you will be satisfied now, and not ask me again to 
hazard my life, as I have done this morning." He 
then related all that had passed. "Courage! cour- 
age! my dearest husband. This is only your first 
labor in your new and noble profession. Go on, and 
prosper; and we shall become rich and happy." 

In vain Ahmed remonstrated, and represented 
the danger; she burst into tears, and accused him 
of not loving her, ending with her usual threat of in- 
sisting upon a divorce. 

Ahmed's heart melted, and he agreed to make 
another trial. Accordingly, next morning he sal- 
lied forth with his astrolabe, his twelve signs of the 
zodiac, and his almanac, exclaiming, as before, "I 
am an astrologer! I know the sun, and the moon, 
and the stars, and the twelve signs of zodiac; I can 
calculate nativities; I can foretell everything that is 
to happen!" 

While everybody was gazing at him, a lady pass- 
ed by veiled. She was the wife of one of the richest 
merchants in the city, and had lost a valuable neck- 
lace and ear-rings. She was in great alarm, lest 
her husband should suspect her of having given her 
jewels to a lover. She went up to Ahmed, and men- 
tioned her loss; saying, "A man of your knowledge 
and penetration will easily discover my jewels; find 
them, and I will give you fifty pieces of gold." 



286 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

The poor cobbler was quite confounded, and 
looked down, thinking only how to escape without 
a public exposure of his ignorance. The lady, in 
pressing through the crowd, had torn the lower part 
of her veil. Ahmed's downcast eyes noticed this; 
and wishing to inform her of it in a delicate manner, 
he whispered to her — "Lady, look down at the rent." 
The lady's head was full of her loss, and she was at 
that moment endeavoring to recollect how it could 
have occurred. Ahmed's speech brought it at once 
to her mind, and she exclaimed in delightful surprise 
— "Stay here a few moments, thou great astrologer. 
I will return immediately with the reward thou so 
well deservest." Saying this, she left him, and soon 
returned, carrying in one hand the necklace and ear- 
rings, and in the other, a purse with the fifty pieces 
of gold. "There is gold for thee," she said, "thou 
wonderful man! to whom all the secrets of nature 
are revealed. I had quite forgotten where I laid 
the jewels, and without thee should never have 
found them. But when thou desiredst me to look 
at the rent below, I instantly recollected the rent 
near the bottom of the wall in the bath-room, where, 
before undressing, I had hid them." 

After these words she walked away, and Ahmed 
returned to his home, thankful to Providence for his 
preservation, and fully resolved never again to tempt 
it. His handsome wife, however, could not yet rival 
the chief astrologer's lady in her appearance at the 
Hemmam, so she renewed her entreaties and threats 
to make her fond husband continue his career as an 
astrologer. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 287 

About this time it happened that the king's treas- 
ury was robbed of forty chests of gold and jewels, 
forming the greater part of the wealth of the king- 
dom The high treasurer and other officers of state 
used all diligence to find the thieves, but in yam 
The king sent for his astrologer, and declared, that 
if the robbers were not detected by a stated time, he 
should be put to death. All their search had proved 
fruitless, and the chief astrologer had quite re- 
sided himself to his fate, when one of his friends 
advised him to send for the wonderful cobbler, who 
had become so famous for his extraordinary dis- 
coveries Two slaves were immediately despatched 
for Ahmed, whom they commanded to go with them 

to their master. 

On entering the palace of the chief astrologer, he 
was thus addressed: "The ways of heaven most 
learned and excellent Ahmed, are unsearchably 
The hich are often cast down and the low are lifted 






His speech was here interrupted by a messenger 
from the king, who, having heard of the cobblers 
ITe desired his attendance. Poor Ahmed now con- 
r/ed thafit was all over with him, and followed 
tie king's messenger, praying to God that he would 
deliver him from this peril. "Tell me, Ahmed/' said 

the king, "^^^tl^^rrrAhmed, after 
"Tt was not one man, answeieu. ^ > 

some consideration; "there were forty thieves con- 

eerned in the robbery." +Viov9 . 

"Very well," said the king;'' but who were they 

and what have they done with my gold and jewels? 



288 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

"These questions," said Ahmed, "I cannot now 
answer; but I hope to satisfy your majesty, if you 
will grant me forty days to make my calculations." 

"I grant you forty days," said the king; "but when 
they are past, if my treasure is not found, your life 
shall pay the forfeit." 

Ahmed returned to his house resolved to take ad- 
vantage of the time allowed him to fly from the city 
where his fame was likely to be his ruin. "Well, 
Ahmed," said his wife, as he entered, "what news 
at court?" 

"No news at all," said he, "except that I am to 
be put to death at the end of forty days, unless I find 
forty chests of gold and jewels, which have been 
stolen from the royal treasury." 

"But you will discover the thieves by the same 
art which discovered the ruby and the lady's neck- 
lace." 

"The same art!" replied Ahmed. "Foolish wo- 
man! thou knowest that I have no art, but I have 
had sufficient skill to gain forty days, during which 
time we may easily escape to some other city, and, 
with the money I now possess, and the aid of my 
former occupation, we may still obtain an honset 
livelihood.' 7 

"Will thy cobbling, thou mean, spiritless wretch! 
ever enable me to go to the Hemmam like the wife 
of the chief astrologer? Hear me, Ahmed! I am 
determined thou shalt not escape; and shouldst thou 
attempt to run away, I will inform the king's officers, 
and have thee taken up and put to death, even before 
the forty days are expired." 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 289 

The poor cobbler was dismayed at this speech; 
hut resigning himself to his fate, he said, "your will 
shall be obeyed. All I desire is to pass the few re- 
maining days of my life as comfortably as I can. 
You know I am no scholar, and have little skill in 
reckoning; so there are forty dates; give me one of 
them every night after I have said my praj^ers, that 
I may put them in a jar, and, by counting them, may 
always see how many of the few days I have to live 
are gone." 

Meanwhile the thieves who had stolen the king's 
treasure, had been kept from leaving the city by fear 
of detection and pursuit. One of them was among 
the crowd before the palace on the day the king 
sent for Ahmed; he ran in a fright to his comrades, 
and exclaimed, "We are all found out! Ahmed, the 
new astrologer, has told the king that there are forty 
of us." 

"There needed no astrologer to tell that," said 
the captain of the gang. "This Ahmed, with all his 
simple good nature, is a shrewd fellow. Forty 
chests having been stolen, he naturally guessed that 
there must be forty thieves; and he has made a good 
hit, that is all; still it is prudent to watch him. One 
of us must go tonight, after dark, to the terrace of 
this cobbler's house, and listen to his conversation 
with his handsome wife; for he will, no doubt, tell her 
what success he has had in his endeavors to detect 
us." 

Soon after nigfihtfall one of the thieves repaired 
to the terrace. He arrived there just as the cobbler 
had finished his evening prayers, and his wife was 



290 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

giving him the first date. "Ah," said Ahmed, as he 
took it, "there is one of the forty." 

The thief, hearing these words, hastened, in con- 
sternation, to the gang, and told them that the mo- 
ment he took his post he had been perceived by the 
supernatural knowledge of Ahmed, who immediate- 
lv told his wife that one of them was there. The 
spy's tale was not believed by his hardened compan- 
ions, and it was determined to send two men the next 
night at the same hour. They reached the house just 
as Ahmed, having finished his prayers, had receiv- 
ed the second date, and heard him exclaim, "My dear 
wife, tonight there are two of them!" 

The astonished thieves fled, and told their still 
incredulous comrades what they had heard. Three 
men were consequently sent the third night, four the 
fourth, and so on. Being afraid of venturing dur- 
ing the day, they always came as evening closed in, 
and just as Ahmed was receiving his date; hence 
they all in turn heard him say that which convinced 
them he was aware of their presence. On the lasf 
night they all went, and Ahmed exclaimed aloud, 
"The number is complete! Tonight the whole forty 
are here!" 

Even the captain now yielded, in spite of his in- 
credulity, and declared his opinion that it was hope- 
less to elude a man thus gifted; he therefore advised 
that they should make a friend of the cobbler, by con- 
fessing everything to him, and bribing him to secrecy 
by a share of the booty. 

His advice was approved of; and an hour before 
dawn they knocked at Ahmed's door. The poor 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 291 

man jumped out of bed, and, supposing the soldiers 
were come to lead him to execution, cried out, 
"Have patience! I know what you are come for. 
It is a very unjust and wicked deed." 

"Most wonderful man!" said the captain, as the 
door was opened, "we are fully convinced that thou 
knowest why we are come, nor do we mean to justify 
the action of which thou speakest. Here are two 
thousand pieces of gold, which we will give thee pro- 
vided thou wilt swear to say nothing more about the 
matter." 

"Say nothing about it!" said Ahmed. "Do you 
think it possible I can suffer such gross wrong and 
injustice without complaining, and making it known 
to all the world?" 

"Have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the thieves, 
falling on their knees; "only spare our lives, and we 
will restore the royal treasure." 

The cobbler started, rubbed his eyes to see if he 
was asleep or awake; and being satisfied that the 
men before him were really the thieves, he assumed 
a solemn tone, and said — "Guilty men! ye are per- 
suaded that ye cannot escape from my penetration, 
Your timely repentance has saved you. But ye 
must immediately restore all that ye have stolen. 
Go straightway, and carry the forty chests exactly 
as ye found them, and bury them a foot deep under 
the southern wall of the old ruined Memmam, be 
yond the king's palace. If you do this punctually, 
your lives are spared; but if ye fail in the slightest 
degree, destruction will fall upon you and your 
families."' 



292 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

The thieves promised obedience to his commands, 
and departed. Ahmed then fell on his knees, and re- 
turned thanks to God for this signal mark of his 
favor. About two hours after the royal guards 
came, and desired Ahmed to follow them. He said 
he would attend theni as soon as he had taken leave 
of his wife, to whom he determined not to impart 
what had occurred until he saw the result. He bade 
her farewell very affectionately; she supported her- 
self with great fortitude on this trying occasion, ex- 
horting her husband to be of good cheer, and said a 
few words about the goodness of Providence. But 
the fact was, Sittara fancied, that if God took the 
worthy cobbler to himself, her beauty might attract 
some rich lover, who would enable her to go to the 
Hemmam with as much splendor as the astrologer's 
lady. 

The good man stood before the king, who said, 
"Ahmed, thy looks are promising; hast thou discov- 
ered my treasure?" ; 

"Does your majesty require the thieves or the 
treasure? The stars will only grant one or the 
other," said Ahmed, looking at his table of astrolo- 
gical calculations. "Your majesty must make your 
choice. I can deliver up either, but not both." 

"I should be sorry not to punish the thieves," 
answered the king; "but if it must be so, I choose the 
treasure." 

"And you give the thieves a full and free par- 
don?" 

"I do, provided I find my treasure untouched." 

The king and all his nobles followed the cobbler 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 293 

to the ruins of the old Hemmam. 

The king's joy knew no bounds; he embraced 
Ahmed, and immediately appointed him his chief as- 
trologer, assigned to him an apartment in the palace, 
and declared that he should marry his only daughter. 

The young princess, who was more beautiful than 
the moon, was not dissatisfied with her father's 
choice; for her mind was stored with religion and 
virtue, and she had learned to value beyond all earth- 
ly qualities that piety and learning which she be- 
lieved Ahmed to possess. 

As Ahmed did not return to his house, Sittara 
only heard of his elevation from t common rumor. 
Her husband was chief astrologer — the very situa- 
tion she had set her heart on; but he had married a 
princess. Her envy was excited by the accounts she 
daily heard of Ahmed's happiness, and of the beauty 
of the princess; and she now became anxious only for 
his destruction. 

An opportunity of indulging her revengeful feel- 
ings was not long wanting. The king of Seestan 
had sent an emerald of extraordinary size and bril- 
liancy as a present to the king of Iran. It was care- 
fully enclosed in a box, to which there were three 
keys, and one of them was given in charge to each of 
the three confidential servants employed to convey 
it. When they reached Ispahan, the box was open- 
ed, but the emerald was gone. 

The king heard the story with astonishment, but 
was unable to find any clue by which he might ac- 
certain the truth. The report spread through the 
city; and Sittara thought she had now the means of 



294 ABOUT PEESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

working her husband's ruin. She solicited a private 
audience of his majesty, on the plea of having a com- 
munication of importance to make. On entering 
the royal presence she threw herself at his feet, ex- 
claiming, "Pardon, O king! my having so long con- 
cealed the guilt of my husband Ahmed, whose al- 
liance is a disgrace to the royal blood. He is no as- 
trologer, but an associate of thieves, and by that 
means alone did he discover the royal treasure. If 
any doubts are entertained of my speaking the truth, 
let his majesty command Ahmed to recover the 
emerald which the servants of the king of Seestan 
have stolen." 

The king, who loved his son-in-law, was grieved 
by this information. Still he resolved to put Ahemd 
to the test. He therefore sent for Ahmed, told him 
what had happened, and added, "I give you twenty 
days to discover who stole the emerald. If you sue 
ceed, you shall be raised to the highest honors of the 
state. If not, you shall sutfer death for having de- 
ceived me." 

Poor Ahmed was by nature as sincere as he was 
pious and humble. He related, therefore to the 
princess without concealment or disguise, every 
event of his past life; and concluded with these 
words: You must see, from what I have said, how 
incapable I am of doing what your father enjoins. 
My only consolation is, that I shall, in twenty days, 
relieve you from a husband, whom from this time you 
must despise." 

"I only love you the better, my dear Ahmed, for 
your sincerity and truth," said the princess. "One, 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 295 

who has been so favored by Heaven, must be dear to 
every pious heart. Be of good cheer; I will turn as- 
trologer this time, and see whether I can find out the 
thief." 

The princess immediately invited the messengers 
from the king of Seestan to her palace where she en- 
tertained the strangers for several days, and con- 
versed with them freely. The princess turned the 
conversation one evening on wonderful occurrences; 
and after each had related his story, said, "I will 
now recount to you some events of my own life. T. 
am my father's only child, and have therefore been 
a favorite from my birth. I was brought up in the 
belief that I could command whatever this world 
can afford. I thought my power of doing good, and 
making everybody happy, was as unlimited as my 
wish to do so. When I was eighteen I was betrothed 
to my cousin. On the morning of my nuptials I 
went to walk in a garden near the palace, where I 
had been accustomed to spend some hours daily from 
my childhood. The old gardener, with whose cheer- 
fulness I had often been amused, met me. Seeing 
him look verv miserable, I asked him what was the 
matter? He evaded a direct answer; but I insisted 
upon his disclosing the cause of his grief, declaring 
at the same time my determination to remove it. 

" 'You cannot relieve me,' " said the old man, 
with a deep sigh. 

"My pride was roused, and I exclaimed, <X swear-' 

u 'Do not swear!' said the gardner, seizing my 
hand. 

" <I do swear,' I repeated, 'I will stop at nothing 



298 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

to make you happy; and I further swear, that I wilt 
not leave this spot until you reveal the grief which 
preys upon you. 

"The old man, seeing my resolution, spoke with 
tremulous emotion as follows: 'Princess, you know 
not what you have done. Behold a man who has 
dared for these two years to look upon you with an 
eye of admiration; his love has at length reached 
such a pitch, that without you he must be wretched 
forever; and unless you consent to meet him in the 
garden tonight, and become his bride instead of that 
of the prince, he must die.' 

"I would have sacrificed my life a hundred times, 
sooner than stain my honor by marrying this man; 
but I had made a vow in the face of Heaven, and to 
break it seemed sacrilege. I told the gardener his 
desire should be granted, and that I would be in the 
garden an hour before midnight. 

"A little before midnight I contrived to dismiss 
my attendants, and, arrayed in my bridal apparel, 
which was covered with the richest jewels, I went to- 
wards the garden. I had not proceeded many yards, 
when I was met by a thief, who, seizing me, said, 
'Let me strip you, madam, of these unnecessary or- 
naments; if you make the least noise, instant death 
awaits you.' In my state of mind such threats 
frightened me little. I wished to die, but I wished, 
before I died, to fulfill my vow. I told my story to 
the thief, beseeching him to let me pass, and pledg- 
ing my word to return, that he might not be disap- 
pointed of his booty. After some hesitation, he al- 
lowed me to proceed. 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 297 

" I had not gone many steps, when I encountered 
a furious lion, which had broken loose from my 
father's menagerie. I dropped on my knees, repeat- 
ed my story, and assured him, if he would let me ful- 
fill my vow, I would come back to him as ready to be 
destroyed as he could be to make me his prey. The 
lion stepped aside, and I went into the garden. 

"I found the old gardener all impatience for my 
arrival. He Hew to meet me, exclaiming I was an 
angel. I told him I was resigned to my engagement, 
but had not long to live. He started, and asked what 
I meant. I gave him an account of my meeting with 
the thief and the lion. 'Wretch that I am!' cried the 
gardener; mow much misery have I caused! but bad 
as I am, I am not worse than a thief, or a beast of 
prey; which I should be, did I not absolve you from 
your vow, and assure you the only way in which you 
can now make me happy, is by forgiving my wicked 
presumption.' 

u I was completely relieved by these words, and 
granted the forgiveness desired. On leaving the gar- 
den, the lion met me. 'Noble lion,' I said, 'I am 
come, as I promised you.' I then related to him 
how the gardener had absolved me from my vow, and 
I expressed a hope that the king of beasts would not 
belie his renown for generosity. The lion again 
stepped aside, and I proceeded to the thief, who was 
still standing where I left him. I told him I was 
now in his power, but that, before he stripped me, I 
must relate to him what had happened since our last 
meeting. Having heard me, he turned away, say- 
ing, 'I am not meaner than a poor gardener, nor more 



298 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

cruel than a hungry lion; I will not injure what they 
have respected.' 

"Delighted with my escapes, I returned to my 
father's palace, where I was united to my cousin, 
with whom I lived happily till his death/' 

The priDcess paused, and turning to one of them, 
asked, "Now which, think you, showed the greatest 
virtue in his forbearance — the gardner, the thief, or 
the lion?" 

"The gardener assuredly," was his answer" to 
abandon so lovely a prize, when so nearly his own." 

"And what is your opinion ?" said the princess to 
his neighbor. 

"I think the lion was the most generous," he re- 
plied, " he must have been very hungry; and in such 
a state it was great forbeaance to abstain from de- 
vouring so delicate a morsel." 

"You both seem to me quite wrong," said the 
third, impatiently; the thief had by far the most 
merit. Gracious Heavens! to have within his grasp 
such wealth, and to refrain from taking it! I could 
not have believed it possible, unless the princess her- 
self had assured us of the fact." 

The princess now, assuming an air of dignity, 
said to the first who spoke, "You, I preceive, are an 
admirer of the ladies;" to the second, "You are an 
epicure;" and then turning to the third, who was al- 
reacty pale with fright, "You, my friend, have the 
emerald in your possession. You have betrayed 
yourself, and nothing but an immediate confession 
can save your life." 

The guilty man threw himself at her feet, ac- 



ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 299 

knowledged his offence, and gave her the emerald, 
which he carried concealed about him. The princess 
rose, went to her husband, and said, "There, Ahmed, 
what do you think of the success of my calcula- 
tions?" She then related the whole circumstance, 
and bade him carry the jewel to her father. 

Ahmed took the emerald in silent astonishment, 
and went with it to the king, who dazzled by its bril- 
liancy and size, loaded his son-in-law with the most 
extravagant praises. Poor Ahmed, conscious how 
little he deserved such praise, threw himself at the 
king's feet, and begged that he might be allowed to 
speak the truth, as he was readier to die than to con- 
tinue imposing on his majesty's goodness. 

After he had finished, the king summoned his 
vizier and chief counsellors, and desired that his 
daughter also might attend, and when they were all 
assembled, he spoke as follows: 'Daughter, I have 
learned the history of thy husband from his own 
lips. I have also heard much in confirmation of the 
belief I have long entertained, that thy knowledge 
and goodness are even greater than thy beauty. 
They prove that thou art born to rule. I will re- 
sign my power into thy hands, being resolved to seek 
that repose which my declining years require. As 
to thy husband, thou wilt dispose of him as it pleases 
thee." 

The princess knelt to kiss her father's hand, and 
answered, "May my father's life and reign be pro- 
longed for his daughter's happiness, and for that of 
his subjects! If my humble counsel is listened to, my 
father will continue to govern his people. As to 



300 ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Ahmed, I love and esteem him; he is .sensible, sincere 
and pious, and I deem myself fortunate in having 
for my husband a man so peculiarly favored and pro- 
tected by Heaven.- ' 

"The. king was delighted with his daughter's wis- 
dom and affection. "Your advice," he said, "my be- 
loved daughter, shall be followed. 1 ' 

The good cobbler was soon afterwards nominated 
vizier; and the same virtue and piety, which had ob- 
tained him respect in the humblest sphere of life, 
caused him to be loved and esteemed in the high sta- 
tion to which he was elevated. 

The designs of Sittara were discovered, but her 
guilt was pardoned. She was left with a mere sub- 
sistence, a prey to disappointment; for she continued 
to the last to sigh for that splendor she had seen dis- 
played by the chief astrologer's wife at the Hem- 
mam; thereby affording a salutary lesson to those 
who admit envv into their bosoms, and endeavor to 
attain their ends by unreasonable and unjustifiable 
means. 




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